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THE THEEE GAEDENS: 



EDEN, G^ETHSEMANE, AND 
PARADISE; 



MAN'S RUIN, REDEMPTION, AND RESTORATION. 



By WILLIAM ADAMS, D.D., 

PASTOR OF THE MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




NEW YORK: <^ 
CHARLES SCRIBNER & CO. 

1868. 




K 

\%(-^ 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the jcf.r j i.^. 

By CHARLES SCRIBNER, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United Stales, in ftnd for th« 

Southern District of New York. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



Theee are many tlieoloo;ies : odIj one Christianity. 
The substance of Christianitv is in those few related 
facts which are arranged around the person of Jesus 
Christ. 

Revelation may not communicate all which curiosity 
might desire or philosophy attempt ; but we recognise 
a wise design alike in its limitations and its disclo- 
sures. We intend no disrespect to dogmatic theology, 
when we institute the inquiry, now and then, whether 
we are not in danger of giving a greater prominence 
to philosophic speculation concerning the facts of the 
Christian system than to the facts themselves, many of 
■which are palpable to the infidel as to the believer. 

As to those prodigious feats of intellectual legerde- 
main by which Pantheism denies the personality of the 



6 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 

world's Creator and Redeemer, pretending that God 
and Christ are only syllogistic fabrications of the hu- 
man soul ; or the speculations of a later school, Avhich, 
admitting the historical incidents of Christianity, judges 
them according to sense, making Baptism to mean noth- 
ing more than the virtue of personal ablution, and the 
Lord's Supper the wisdom of dietetics ;* by such studi- 
ous endeavors, on the one hand and the other to escape 
the obvious import of inspired Scripture, we are re- 
minded of the elaborate effort of the Arch Tempter, on 
his first circumnavigation of our earth, as described by 
Milton, to kei3p himself m darimess— 

" Cautious of day." 

The present volume undertakes nothing more than 
.0 group together, in the simple and unpretending form 
of pastorly address — not of philosophic analysis — the 
principal facts which compose the Christian system. 
From whatever point of the circumference we start 
in the great circle of truth, each radius brings us to 
that focal centre — the life and mediation of Jesus 
Christ. 

The author will be abundantly compensated, if the 
following pages should enliven the conviction in any 

* Essence of Cliristianity, By Ludwig reuerbacli. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 7 

mind that the only source of hope and gladness for the 
human race is the Redemption of the Son of God — so 
that the whole of life should be made one ^' Lord's 
Day" of gratitude and joy, as George Herbert has 
beautifully expressed it : — 

" Can there be any day but this, 
Though many suns to shine endeavor? 

We count three hundred; but we miss: 
There is but 07?e, and that one Ever. 

Ne^v York, March 24, 1856. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

I Man's Original Character and Condition 13 

II . . . .Man's First Probation 82 

III . . . Human Nature since the Apostacy 49 

ly . . .Human Nature not Self-Recuperative 67 

y . . . .Man's Redemption 89 

yi . . . Reason for Remission. 106 

yil. . . Human Nature Resuscitated 121 

yiH. . " Times of Restitution" 139 

IX . , . The Law of Retribution 158 

X . . . .Retribution and Mercy 177 

XI. . .Supernatural Relief for Natural Evils 195 

XII. .The Celestial Paradise 215 

XIII . Man's Ultimate Perfection 232 

Xiy .The Perfected Result of Redemption, 247 

Xy. .How is Ultimate Perfection to be attained? 266 

1* 



THE G3SDEN OF EDEN. 



M A N ! 

How vast a world is figured by a word ! 
A little word, a very point of sound, 
Breathed by a breath, and in an instant heard ; 
Yet leaving that may well the soul astound, — 
To sense a shape, to thought without a bound 
For who shall hcj-e the mys'^Gij U ^c^' 
Of that great being symbolized in man f 
His outward form seems but a speck in space 
13 u •, what far star shall check the eternal race 
(^f one small thought that rays from out his m*nd 1 
For evil, or for good, still, still must travel on 
His every thought, though worlds are left behind, 
Nor backward can tlie race be ever run. 

Alls'ion. 



MAN'S ORIGINAL CHARACTER AND CONDITION. 

As tlie sun rises in a cloudless morning, the eastern 
hills and waters seem to be in contact with the sky ; 
and, when it goes down in the west, the earth and the 
heavens appear once more to be blended together in a 
yet brighter effulgence. This world has had one " gold- 
en age ;" and, when the circle of its eventful life is 
complete, it will certainly enjoy another. 

In one of the galleries of Italy, there hangs a pic- 
ture of an exiled nobleman. The artist has aimed to 
portray the most abject condition of a kingly nature. 
The hair is matted and dishevelled; the cheek pale 
and sunken ; the dress worn and tattered ; yet, through 
all this misery, depression, and contempt, you see, in 
the contour of the face, the fire of the eye, and the 
expansion of the forehead, the glory of an ancient and 
noble lineage. High and glorious is the pedigree of 



14 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

man, '^ who was the son of Setli, wlio was the son of 
Adam, who was the Son of Gocir At the beginning, 
man held joyful communion with his Maker. Fallen 
from that high estate into guilt and misery, will he ever 
be restored ? 

The history of man has a past, a present, and a fu- 
ture. We can not read it unmoved, since our own 
character and destiny are involved in the life of our 
race. Let us go back to Eden, and see man in his 
original innocence and glory, his temptation, his fall, 
his shame, his expulsion, the hereditary consequences 
of the first disobedience, and all his fruitless attempts 
at self-recuperation. Next will we visit the garden of 
Gethsemane, where the Son of God fainted in excess 
of agony, and, inquiring who he was, and what he did, 
learn by what methods man has been redeemed. Then 
will we read together of that Paradise of God which is 
promised to the penitent — its joy, its security, its so- 
ciety, all its elements of blessedness — that we may be 
taught how man is to be restored to more than his ori- 
ginal perfection. 

These are the topics about which there has been 
the greatest amount of speculation. Concerning them 
we have had fable and philosophy, fiction and hypothe- 
sis. It is time that we turn to historic facts, and their 
interpretation in the sure word of inspired Scripture, 



man's origin. 15 

which together form a unity of testimony, as the block 
of marble is one, though veined and clouded with all 
varieties of color. 

Concerning the beginning of our race, the only au- 
thentic record we have is in the Word of God, There 
is no other accredited book which pretends to carry the 
history of man to its very origin. Profane history be- 
gins its authentic dates centuries later than the Mosaic 
account of man's creation. All beyond is conjecture, 
mythology, and mystery. Reason, unaided by revela- 
tion, could only demonstrate this one thing — that man, 
at some time, must have been created ; for man is a 
finite being, and an eternal succession of finite beings 
involves a contradiction. A series of finite beings, each 
begimiing his life in time, must have had a Creator in- 
finite and eternal. Hoia^ lalien, ivhere^ this succession 
of human life began, we have no method whatever of 
ascertaining, save through the revelation which has 
been given us by that Being from whom human life 
proceeded. This revelation is explicit, and, if it con- 
tains not all which curiosity might desire, the facts 
which it communicates are precisely those which it is 
most needful for us to know. 

Not only was there a time when man, as yet, had no 
existence in this world, but, as we believe, man began 
existence when he was created in Eden. We have no 
faith whatever in the pre-existence of man, in some 



16 THE GARDEN OP EDEN. 

other state, prior to this world's creation. We are not 
altogether uninformed of what has been written in favor 
of such a theory. The notion was broached in anti- 
quity, and it has been revived in modern times for the 
avowed purpose of solving certain mysterious problems 
in the moral government of God, about which specula- 
tive minds have carried on a conflict for ages. Con- 
cerning this theory of man's pre-existence, two things 
may be said. The one is, that, admitting it to be true, 
it furnishes no solution whatever of the difficulties in 
question pertaining to sin and responsibility, but only 
removes those difficulties to a remoter stage of being, 
leaving them there as much in mystery as they now are. 
Besides which, the theory is unsupported by one parti- 
cle of proof. The obvious teaching of Scripture is 
against it. The New Testament certainly connects the 
character and condition of the human race with the his- 
tory of the first pair, and not with any pre-existence of 
our own, before we began to live in this world. In ex* 
pressing this judgment concerning the theory of man's 
pre-existence, we would not object to any form of hy- 
pothesis which does not overstep the modesty of true 
science ; but we can not countenance any interpretation 
of the Sacred Writings which would bring up an occult 
and philosophic sense to override and conceal that 
which is obvious to a simple-minded reader. An insu- 
perable objection to this theory of man's pre-existence, 



MAN NOT PRE-EXISTENT. 17 

as that theory has been revived and advocated of late, 
is, that it makes the Scriptures of little account. It is 
affirmed that this theory is the only one which can save 
the glory of God from disastrous "eclipse." It is the 
only one which can save a thoughtful mind from blank 
deepair. It promises to be a solution and a help, a 
resting-place and a joy to man, such as alone can give 
him confidence in his Maker — the only method by which 
all this can be accomplished. On this supposition, of 
how much value to me is the Word of God ? If this 
does not vindicate sufficiently the glory of God, so that 
we can have all faith in his wisdom and truth — if it 
does not meet these essential conditions of my being — 
how have you depreciated it in my esteem ! Any the- 
ory, therefore, which claims to be better than the obvious 
meaning of Scripture— which proposes to honor God, 
comfort and satisfy man, in some other manner than 
that revealed in this book — to that degree supplants 
Scripture, making it worthless, and so is palpably infi- 
del in its tendencies. We have no memory of pre- 
existence ; we have no history of it ; no tradition of it ; 
and no proof whatever of it. The history of man be- 
gins with his creation on the earth where we now live. 
The creation of man is represented as the last and 
liighest act of divine skill. Everything before had been 
preparatory to this. The earth had emerged from the 
surging waters. The liglits of the firmament had been 



18 thp: garden of eden. 

kindled. Vegetation had begun its luxuriant growth. 
Animal life had been created — cleaving the air with 
wing, moving through the pliant wave, or walking on 
the solid earth. Science, l)y her latest observations, 
authenticates all these written testimonies as to the sc- 
ries and succession of things created — discovering .'n 
the great leaves of Nature's book the self-same order 
of procession which is described in the pages of the 
inspired volume. When this goodly creation was fin- 
ished, man was made in the image of God ; and, in this 
act, the Omnipotent is represented as evoking his utmost 
skill, employing his own plastic hand, and imjoarting 
his own life-giving breath. 

We receive what is here written of man's creation 
and fii'st abode as historical verity. We believe that 
Eden had a definite topography. The rivers which 
bounded it are called by names. All has the appear- 
ance of historical description. It were idle to mention 
all the fables, traditions, and theories, w^hich have been 
written in reference to the locality of paradise. There 
is a moral in the fact that tlie exact position of the 
garden of innocence can not be authenticated. Eden 
exists not now. We have relics of it, but it is no more 
a reality. It is a faded vision. It luas^ but is not now 
to be found. History begins, as the sun rises, in the 
East. Somewhere in that remote land, probably not far 
from the chain of \\\(i Caucasus, between the waters of 



BODY AND SOUL. 19 

the Black sea and the Caspian, near the head-springs 
of the Euphrates and the Tigris, in a region afterward 
known as Armenia, was the dwelling-place of the first 
man, in tlie original perfection of his nature. 

Behold what contrasts met and mingled in the forma- 
tion of man — the dust of the earth, and the inspiration 
of the Almighty ! Distinct and dissimilar are these 
several properties, but they are wonderfully combined 
in the person of man. 

The body of man was first fashioned, and this out of 
the dust of the ground. Its form and organization were 
complete before it was animated with life. And God 
'' breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man 
became a living souL^^ What is life? Where is it 
seated ? How is it diffused ? It is a mysterious power 
which warms and vitalizes that body which, without it, 
would be as cold and motionless as common clay. We 
know nothing concerning it save by its effects. We fol- 
low it, and it eludes our inspection. The scalpel of the 
anatomist opens a way through which inquiry may en- 
ter ; but, no sooner is the inner citadel reached, than 
the dweller is found to have escaped. Animal life is 
itself a prodigy — even when we see it vitalizing a little 
handful of earth, and sending it up, with music in its 
warbling throat, to the gates of heaven ; or making 
another form of it, invested with scales of gold and sil- 
ver, to spring from the brook, leaping for joy in tho 



20 THE GARDEN OP EDEN. 

simple pleasure of existence. But man is something 
more than vitalized clay. The breath of God imparted 
to the human form something more than animal life. 
The inspiration of the Almighty gave him understand- 
ing. He was made in the likeness of his Maker. He 
received a rational and intelligent nature. More than 
instinct, there was given to him a reasonable soul. All 
that has been written in advocacy of materialism is dis- 
proved at once by a reference to this simple record of 
man's creation. The soul is not the product of matter, 
nor any accident or m^odification of matter. It is a 
distinct existence — distinct in its origin, distinct in 
its nature. Though united, the body and the soul 
each preserves its own separate quality. The one is 
dust, the other is spirit. The one was fashioned by 
God's fingers, the other came from God's own life. 
This distinction is recognised throughout the whole of 
Scripture. Vf hat we call death is the dissolution of 
this fellowship and conjunction between the body and 
the soul. So saith the Scripture : " Then shall the 
dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall 
return unto God who gave it." There lies the lifeless 
form, complete in structure. Not yet 

''Decay's effacing fingers 

Have swept the lines where beauty lingers" — 

and the human body seems for a brief term, now that 
the soul has parted from it, even as it was when God 



UNITY OF THE RACE. 21 

first fasliioiied it, before the soul was united unto it. 
The philosophic speculations of all ages concerning life 
and soulj materialism and immaterialism, have not ad- 
vanced one iota beyond the sublime conciseness of this 
inspired description of man's creation — this compound 
of dust and divinity — a body that dies, and a soul that 
will live for ever. Behold the first man, as he stood 
before his Maker : — 

" Erect in stature, 
With front serene and thoughtful, self-knowing, 
Magnanimous, to correspond with Heaven V 

What can we imagine of such awful beauty as the 
human face when it first reflected the smile of Grod ? 
Man's brow is now knit with care, soiled with dust, 
seamed and scarred with disease ; his eye downcast 
upon the path he treads ; and his heart depressed with 
the humiliations of guilt. So was not man at the first. 

That our conception of unity might not be disturbed 
— that our conviction of the oneness of the human race 
might be clear and strong — the creation of woman is 
described, not as a separate existence, but as a part of 
the very life which is the parent-stock of our species. 
Vulgar infidelity may scoff and cavil at this narration, 
and call the Mosaic record of woman's creation a myth 
and nothing more ; but the power which fashioned man 
out of the dust, and the worlds out of nothing, may 
readily be believed to have performed what is here 
ivritten, beyond the reach of a sarcasm. If ever fitness, 



22 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

design, proportion, and harmony, were subserved, it was 
here. Woman was not made a distinct, divided, inde- 
pendent, and isolated personality, but she was taken 
from beneath the arm and nearest the heart of ma:i, to 
be protected and loved ; so the two thus united had 
but one life. 

The unity of the human race is not a mere philosoph- 
ical speculation. Our minds toil after its intuition. 
We believe that it is taught expressly in the Sacred 
Scriptures. We hold it to be implied in the very struc- 
ture of doctrinal Christianity. It was by one man's 
disobedience that the relations of the whole race were 
changed, even as it was by one man's obedience tiiat 
the world was redeemed. There was one Adam and 
one Christ. In asserting this belief we cast no reproach 
upon scientific theories. We are not, indeed, ignorant 
of the auspices under which the unity of the human 
race has been questioned. It was Voltaire who gave 
chief currency to the notion, for the very purpose of 
discrediting the Bible. It was ably met and answered 
by Haller and Cuvier — greater and better physiolo- 
gists than he. Let scientific research be aided and 
forv/arded in this direction ; for our faith is strong that 
the ultimate testimony of physiology will be in accord- 
ance with the Scriptures, in proof of the unity of the 
human race. 

Desirous of knowing what changes have since oc- 



ORIGINAL PERFECTION. 23 

eurred in our common nature, we would first bo in- 
formed of its primeval properties. 

The body of man was perfect in its organization and 
fanctions. The mind was not disordered nor enfeebled, 
as now. by physical infirmities. The appetites and 
passions which, since the apostacy, often destroy both 
body and soul, were then conformed to their proper uses, 
and subject to their prescribed moderation and regular- 
ity. Poetry has always delighted, in weaving the tra- 
ditions concerning the Golden Age, to describe th(> 
beauty, and size, and strength of man in that slate of 
innocence. Setting aside all that is purely imagina- 
tive, we know that man, in Paradise, was a stranger 
to disease, deformity, and pain ; tliat the perfect organ- 
ism of his body made existence a delight, and brought 
no shadow or depression upon the soul. 

The mind of man was clear and true. The ])ower 
of intelligence was a property which made him 
the image of God. Unlike inert matter, moved by 
physical forces, unlike irrational animals impelled by 
blind instinct, man was capable of understanding the 
will of his Maker. We will not indulge in fanciful 
conjectures as to the degrees of his knowledge, but, 
content with what is written of the faaulty of knowing, 
delight ourselves with imagining what man must have 
been, when that faculty was unperverted by prejudice, 
unbeclouded by falsehood — so that there was no re- 



24 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

fraction to the rays of truth entering the mind, which 
in pure and honest intelligence answered unto the in- 
telligence of God. 

Man was endowed with perfect freedom. In the 
well-ordered words of the Westminster Confession, 
'' God endowed the will of man with that natural 
liberty and power of acting upon choice, that it is nei- 
ther forced, nor by any absolute necessity of nature de- 
termined, to do good or evil." Nothing so exalts our 
idea of the goodness and power of the Almighty as the 
creation of a being capable of acting, and free to act, 
upon his own choice and responsibility. Concisely and 
admirably has Milton described this property of man, in 
the words of Raphael to Adam in Paradise : — 

" God made tliec perfect, not immutable : 
And good he made thee : but to persevere 
He left it in thy power : ordained thy will 
By nature free, not overruled by fate 
Inextricable, or strict necessity. 
Our voluntary service he requires, 
Not our necessitated. Such with him 
Einds no acceptance, nor can find; for how 
Can hearts not free be tried whether they servo 
Willing or no : who will but what they must 
By destiny, and can no other choose 1 
Myself and all the angelic host that stand 
In sight of God enthroned, our happy state 
Hold, as you yours, while our obedience holds 
On other surety none : freely we servo 
Because we freely love : as in our will 
To love or not, in this we stand or fall." 



ORIGINAL COxNDITION. 25 

Wiien we add, that man was originally hohj^ we do 
not intend that his holiness was created in the same 
manner as the faculties of his mind and the organs of 
his body ; or that it was involuntary, like the natural 
instincts and appetences ; but simply this, that all his 
thoughts, affections, and actions, were right : that his 
obedience was perfect — that there was no conflict be- 
tween the several parts of his nature — no law in the 
members warring against the law in the mind, that the 
voluntary obedience of man was so complete, that he 
was the very image of his Maker — his holy affections 
responding unto the holy affections of God. A " golden 
age" indeed was that when the human conscience 
spake approvingly, without one impeachment, without 
one compunction of remorse ; man rejoicing in his own 
conscious innocence, and God pronouncing this his last 
and greatest work superlatively good. 

Such were the original elements of man's character. 
The circumstances of his condition corresponded there- 
to. The curse is on the earth itself now, in conse- 
quence of sin. Thorns and thistles does it bring forth. 
It is hard for us to conceive what that garden was 
which God had planted as the perfect abode of his per- 
fect creatures. Every tree that was pleasant to the 
sight and good for food was there, flowers and fruits in 
their endless profusion of form and fragrance. That 
v/e may not be thought to bo drawing upon fancy for 



26 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

the sources of pleasure wliich abounded in Eden, wc 
will mention such only as are described by tlie pen of 
inspiration. 

The first was cheerful occvpation. Indolence is the 
offspring of sin and not the blessing of innocence. Well 
was it said by Matthew Henry, " if either a high extrac- 
tion, or a great estate, or a large dominion, or perfect in- 
nocence, or a genius for pure contemplation, or a small 
family, could have given man a writ of ease, Adam had 
not been set to work." The blessedness of God is not in 
sleep, but in unwearied and beneficent action ; and man, 
made in his image, was immediately assigned an occu- 
pation. " And the Lord put him into the garden of 
Eden, to dress it and keep it." Man's first employ- 
ment was to till that very earth out of which he sprung, 
and in the bosom of which he is to find his grave. 
Work and labor are not synonyms. With the latter 
we associate difficulty — sometimes hard and depressing 
drudgery. Man's work at first was pleasant only, re- 
straining and pruning the exuberance of nature's spon- 
taneous growth ; sin has changed that easy occupation 
for the sweat of the face, and the bending of the back. 

Next to the pleasant exercise of the body and mind 
was sublunary lordship delegated to man over all the 
works of God's hand. Not one of the inferior animals 
was an object of terror or disgust to man or to one on- 
other, but their instincts were subjected to innocence 



ORIGINAL BLESSEDNESS. 27 

and kindness. No venomous reptile was there to bite 
— no ravenous beast to devour; the vulture had not 
yet covered tho dove — nor had the lion preyed upon 
the lamb ; the tiger and the leopard kissed the hand 
of innocence, and came fawning and gentle to the feet 
of man, their unfeared and fearless lord. 

To this was added society. It had not been good 
even for innocence to be solitary. Marriage is a word 
and an institution which sin has so far associated with 
low instinct, with ideas of barter, convenience, and ad- 
vantage, that some effort of the imagination is requisite 
to conceive of its heavenly original, its paradisaical 
prototype, which secured to man the exercise of his 
most joyful sympathies, society so blessed, confidence 
so complete, that between the two whom God had 
placed in Eden there was but one heart. 

Last of all was ivorship of the Creator^ and God^s 
benediction. The worship of God by sinless man! — 
not with mediatory rites and sacrifices, not by smoking 
altars and bleeding beasts, not by typical sacraments 
and priestly intercessions ; but by direct, immediate, 
personal, sensible communion. "With no shame on his 
cheek, no fear in his soul, man stood erect before his 
Maker in all the confidence and joy of perfect inno- 
cence. Then was it that God abode with man as with 
his child, smiling upon him morning, noon, and night, 
and walking with him amid the bowers of Eden. Not 



28 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

now did he seem to man as afterward, when he de- 
jscended on Sinai, making darkness his pavilion and 
flaming fire his chariot. Not now did he reveal him- 
self as afterward to the vision of inspired prophecy, 
when he rode upon the wings of the wind, or made the 
mountains to smoke at his touch, and the pillars of the 
temple to tremble at the approach of his glorious maj- 
esty. There were no images of terror to represent the 
coming of the Almighty — no thundering, no lightning, 
ncy earthquake, no voice of trumpet — nor was there one 
emotion of fear in the soul of man. How was this com- 
munion accomplished ? Did G-od reveal himself in a 
visible form ? 

We will not trespass beyond what is written. But 
it were strange indeed if God has manifested himself in 
a human form to man in his apostacy — if he has prom- 
ised that this manifestation should be repeated, at the 
last, when every eye shall see him — and man in his ori- 
ginal blessedness and glory had no sensible communion 
with his Maker. Second causes did not then interpose 
their opaque influences to prevent the light of God's 
countenance from shining full upon the soul. He was 
seen to be near; he was felt to be near; and truly 
heaven and earth were blended together in the morn- 
ing of the world's history. God blessed our innocent 
progenitors, and the first sabbath of the world shone 
on their consummate felicity. If ans^olic choirs chanted 



MEMORY AND HOPE. 29 

praises on tlie plains of Bethleliem, when man's Re- 
deemer was born, wonder not that the morning stars 
sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy, 
over the unsullied blessedness of Eden. 

By comprehending what was peculiar in man's char- 
acter and condition at first, we shall the better under- 
stand what changes have occurred in our common na- 
ture — what lineaments of the divine likeness still 
remain — what have been efi'aced — where and how re- 
storative help is to be applied. 

In this we must all be agreed. This is not Eden. 
We know not where we shall find it, voyaging and trav- 
elling around the world in search of it. We are not 
holy and happy as was man at the first. A great 
change has come over the race, and we must account 
for it. Neither are we abandoned to useless and hope- 
less regrets, sighing only for the paradise that is lost — 

" Yearning for its meadow-sweet breath, 
Untainted by care, and crime, and death" — 

for, in our religion, memory and hope are so blended 
together, that conscious guilt may smile with expecta- 
tion of another paradise of God, which is far better 
than the first ; and to that, weary, ashamed, afraid, sor- 
rowing, dying, does the gospel of Christ direct and help 
us. May the happy efiect of all these our meditations 
upon man's original, his fall, his redemption, his resto- 
ration, his first and second probation, be to incite us 



30 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

to make sure of that celestial paradise which Christian 
faith anticipates, with its complete perfection, its eter- 
nal security, its trees of knowledge, and its trees of 
life ! 



II. 

MAN'S FIRST PROBATION. 

As to tli8 iiiterprotation of that portion of Scripture 
which narrates the original probation and fall of man, 
different methods have been advocated. It would be dif- 
ficult to select any other part of the sacred volume about 
which there has been the same amount of curious specu- 
lation. The reader will easily perceive how many topics 
are suggested by the narrative, which would be likely 
to divert minds of a certain order from the principal 
subject of the history — such as curious disquisitions 
about the tree of knowledge and the tree of life, the 
mode of Satanic approach, the origin of evil, and many 
other matters of similar import. Many have given an 
allegorical interpretation to the whole passage, for the 
purpose of avoiding what has seemed to them a diffi- 
culty arising from the extreme simplicity of the narra- 
tive as it now stands. Others interpret it as partly 
allegorical and partly historical. Others, still, inter 



32 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

pret it as a myth, a didactic fable, a truth invested in 
a poetic form — some asserting that the account of 
man's first trial was represented in a pictorial method, 
so that the language of Moses is here borrowed from 
hieroglyphic figures, thus combining together the his- 
torical and the mythical. This reference to these sev- 
eral methods of interpreting the passage is made for 
the distinct purpose of saying that the plan now pro- 
posed will not make it necessary to enter upon the dis- 
cussion of any one of these incidental matters. Even 
those who regard the whole narrative of Moses con- 
cerning man's abode in Eden as mythological, agree 
in this, that the myth has a moral ; though an allegory 
is the form in which truth is conveyed, yet truth still is 
thus conveyed. It is that truth, that one fact, whether 
it be communicated in hieroglyphical, allegorical, or 
didactic language, with which we are now to be occu- 
pied. Bearing this in mind, we shall dispense with all 
that is simply curious and speculative, and occupy our- 
selves with the one great fact which is here revealed, 
whatever mode of interpreting the form of revelation 
may be adopted. Those who give the most literal in- 
terpretation to every item of the narrative, and those 
who incline to the tropical and mythical, all agree that 
the object of the sacred writer was to describe the firsi 
probation of human nature. And this is the topic now 
before us — a topic altogether practical to ourselves, 



TEST OF OBEDIEiTCE. 33 

since the first and second forms of human probation 
differ essentially. 

The terms of man's original probation are briefly de- 
fined. Simple obedience to the will of God describes 
tlie first moral trial of human nature. A special act of 
obedience was presented, and the conditions of proba- 
tion were simply these : ohey^ and retain all the pleas- 
ures and rewards of innocence ; disobey^ and there shall 
follow the pangs of remorse, and the displeasure of God. 
Obey, and live ; disobey, and die. Such is the defini- 
tion of man's original probation. He was placed " un- 
der law" — if we may use a word which to us is associ- 
ated with severity, and compulsion, and awe, as descrip- 
tive of that trial of innocence, with which nothing repul- 
sive was connected. The thing to be observed is, that 
obedience — obedience alone, nothing but obedience — 
describes the original probation of man. There is no 
mixture of mercy, of forgiveness, in the terms of it. 
Mercy is a gratuity offered to guilt. Nothing of this was 
proposed to original innocence, for it was not needed 
while innocence was retained. It matters not at all 
whether the interdicted act be in itself great or small, 
vast or trivial — it was a test of obedience; and that 
was the moral trial to which the nature of man was 
first subjected. 

Observe the favorable auspices of this original pro- 

2* 



34 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

balion. There was no propensity in man's nature to 
evil. There was no derangement in his constitution 
inclining him to sin. Body and soul were absolutely 
perfect in their organization. There was no proclivity, 
no bias, in the wrong direction. Man was the very 
likeness of his Maker, with no more disposition or in- 
clination to evil than in the holy nature of God. 

The terms of the probation were definitely under- 
stood. This is essential to all fairness and equity when 
the principle of obedience is to be tested. Acts which 
proceed from ignorance or accident are not to be con- 
founded with the intelligent and purposed infraction of 
positive injunctions. When serpent subtlety suggested 
the first temptation to the mind of Eve, she quickly re- 
pelled it, on the ground that the act to which she was 
solicited was forbidden by the express interdict of the 
Creator ; thus proving that the first condition of legal 
probation was complied with, in that the test of obedi- 
ence was well and perfectly understood. 

The circumstances of the probation were in all other 
respects eminently auspicious. The liberty allowed 
was tlie very largest. There was no pressure of want 
to necessitate transgression. All the delights of Eden 
were at the command of its innocent tenants. The 
amplest range of enjoyment was afforded ; all created 
things were at their disposal, save that one, which it 
was their pleasure to avoid, because obedience to their 



FAVORABLE AUSPICES. 35 

Maker was a delight. Infidelity may scoff at the triv- 
ial nature of the act interdicted ; but the ol3vious reply 
is, that acts are not to bo measured by their own little- 
ness or largeness, or the brevity of the time in which 
they are performed, but by their relations — the smallest 
serving as a test as well as the largest. 

With the mention of these several circumstances, we 
can not conceive how human nature could have been 
tested, as to the principle of obedience, on conditions 
more hopeful, more auspicious, more equitable, than it 
actually was in Eden. The imagination has often been 
indulged, and the wish expressed, that we, each for 
himself, might have been put on probation, in reference 
to simple obedience to divine statutes, with no disad- 
vantage of evil example, or a vitiated nature, or mis- 
leading influences, or unfavorable conditions, against 
us. It is well to bear in mind that the first and only 
probation of human nature, on terms of simple, unmixed 
obedience to law, was conducted under circumstances 
which left absolutely nothing more auspicious, more 
desirable, to be conceived of. 

How long man continued in that state of innocence, 
proving and enjoying his obedience, we are not in- 
formed. There is a meaning in the fact that the nar- 
rative of man's first probation is so brief. All which 
relates to it is condensed into one short chapter. The 
Bible is constructed for the advantage of humanity in 



36 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

its second probation, and consequently nothing more is 
revealed concerning the first than barely suffices to ac- 
quaint us with its nature and issue — thus serving as an 
introduction to that which ensues, upon Avliich we arc 
now passing our earthly existence. 

Temptation is now presented to the occupants of 
Eden. Temptation is not sin, but it seems to be im 
plied in the very nature of man's probation. Were wo 
to derive all our knowledge concerning the temptation 
of man in Eden from the third chapter of Genesis, 
we should suspect no other agency as connected with 
it than impressions made on the mind of innocence by 
the serpent, remarkable for beauty, adroitness, and sub- 
tlety — feeding, perhaps, himself on the very tree which 
was interdicted to man. But we are not left in this 
imperfect acquaintance with facts. Later disclosures 
of inspiration make it certain that another order of be- 
ings was concerned in instigating man to evil. Here 
have we the first allusion which, like a hinge or link, 
connects the history of our race with events which oc- 
curred before man was made — a connection which sub- 
sists now, and is to continue, in one form or another, 
when this world is consumed — so binding for ever, past, 
present, and future events of Providence, into one vast 
and endless system, ever revolving and unfolding. 
Sin existed in the universe before it blighted Eden. 
Some of the angels kept not their first estate ; iijid rev- 



"PARADISE LOST." 37 

elation positively instructs us that man's apostacy, and 
man's redemption, and man's final destiny, have direct 
relations to the history of those who fell from heaven 
before man was fashioned out of the dust. It is fre- 
quently said that our notions on this subject are drawn 
from the " Paradise Lost" of Milton, rather than from 
the Word of God. But is not that sublime epic, as to 
the great facts of its construction, founded on the his- 
torical incidents of the inspired Scriptures ? We claim 
that it is. We are not jealous, as believers in inspira- 
tion, of the influence upon our imagination of that book 
which, in the great outlines of its mechanism, is accordant 
with revelation. The blindness of Milton soems to have 
been sent for the world's blessing — inward illumination 
increasing as sensible vision was darkened : so that, 
while the great epics of the Greek and Latin languages 
relate only to the overthrow or founding of states, the 
epic of the English language, constructed out of tlie 
materials furnished by divine revelation, informs and 
exalts the imagination of all who read our native tongue 
to a greater familiarity with those august events of the 
spiritual world which are disclosed by our religion, and 
inseparably allied to our immortality. 

After all which has been written by metaphysical 
philosophy about the origin of sin^ we take the subject 
just where it was found by those who first began to 
think and speculate concerning it. Very nuicli has 



38 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

been written on the subject, we know, Avliicli is vision- 
ary, which is irrational — explanations w^hich explain 
nothing — solutions of problems which are not solved 
at all ; but we are not aware that all the philosophic 
discussions of the world together ever advanced beyond 
the condensed and inimitable formula of the apostle 
James: ''God can not be tempted with evil; neither 
tempteth he any man : but every man is tempted when 
he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then 
when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin ; and 
sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Sin 
originated in no compulsion, no inducement, on the 
part of God. It is not an accident, or effect of matter. 
It had its origin in the free-will of man. It was man's 
free-will which was on trial. Involuntary suggestion, 
the thought, the imagination of the act interdicted, was 
not sin ; but the entertainment of that imagination, the 
cherishing of that desire, the accomplishing of that 
thought — this is sin. Such is the sequcncy in this 
actual history. She looked — she saw that the fruit 
was pleasant to the eye, and good for food ; desire was 
enkindled, was cherished : and this, when it conceived, 
brought forth sin ; and sin, when completed in act, 
brought forth death. All the metaphysics of centuries, 
whole libraries of philosophic discussion, concerning the 
origin and nature of sin, condensed together, add noth- 
ing to this concise statement of historic events. 



TRANSGRESSION. 39 

The fact with wliicli we arc chiefly concerned is, that 
man's first probation terminated disastrously. That 
tree which, because of the divine interdict, had been 
avoided — which had been the test of obedience — 
tlirough the subtleties of diabolic solicitation, was ap- 
proached, and the fruit thereof was eaten. The tempt- 
er was believed more than God. The desire of self- 
control, distrust and independence of the Creator, and 
palpable infringement of his well-known will, were 
the ripened form and fruit of sin. The bright and 
happy auspices of the first probation availed nothing ; 
and, notwithstanding circumstances most proj)itious in 
aid of obedience, sin entered the world, with all ist 
entailment of wo ! 

Behold the changes which were produced by trans- 
gression ! 

The first was shame, A new emotion was this to 
man. He who had rejoiced in the perfect conscious- 
ness of innocence, before his Maker, was now bereaved 
of that happy sense, and depressed with mortification. 
There was no blush in Eden, as there was none in 
heaven, till sin entered it. That crimson signal of 
guilt, or offended modesty, betrays the knowledge be- 
tween good and evil which was first born on earth when 
transgression invaded Eden. No reproof, no upbraid- 
ing, no sentence, as yet had been uttered by their Ma- 
ker ; but the guilty pair had lost, what they never could 



40 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

regain, ignorance of evil, consciousness of innocence^ 
and they were ashamed. Shame is the first-born pro- 
geny of sin. 

The next was fear of God. That fear had been 
unknown and unimagined before. The greatest joy 
of innocence was to have communion with the Crea- 
tor, conscious of meriting, certain of receiving, his ben- 
ediction. With what exuberant delight the heart of 
holy man bounded to meet the Being from whom his 
own being had proceeded. The voice of God was 
now heard — "Adam, where art thou?" — but there 
was no gladness in the heart of man to meet him: 
and the conscience-smitten culprits, cowering with ter- 
ror, hid themselves beneath the trees of the garden. 
Yet not with terror only. Let it not escape us how 
true to nature, how true to all we have ourselves 
observed and experienced, is the record here given of 
the effects produced by primeval transgression. We 
are naturally repelled from the society of those wo 
have wronged. An innocent child, conscious of hav- 
ing regarded every parental injunction, will enjoy no 
society so much as of those very parents in whose 
sunny approbation it loves to bask. Let the case be 
reversed, and a parent's will be disregarded, and that 
child will feel itself repelled from the presence of those 
whose favor it has consciously forfeited. Repulsion 
from God was the necessary effect of guilt and shame. 



EFFECTS OF TRANSGRESSION. 41 

Man sought to conceal himself from his Maker. An evil 
conscience invariably begets dislike and fear of God. 

The next effect of disobedience was mutual recrimi- 
nation between the guilty parties. Before, they were 
as one with themselves, as they were one with God. 
But now they are at variance. The harsh word, the 
cruel taunt, the bitter recrimination, are passed be- 
tween the offending pair. Here, again, observe how 
truthful to nature is this narrative. It is hard for 
the guilty honestly to acknowledge sin. Shame de- 
ters from manly and ingenuous confession, and begets 
subterfuges, evasions, excuses, prevarications, without 
number, and without end. The charge of guilt was 
thrown from one to the other — by Adam upon Eve, 
by Eve upon the tempter — and throughout it all there 
was that mean and pitiable effort which conscious guilt 
always engenders, to evade the light of truth, and ward 
off the unequivocal admission of demerit. 

Now comes the sentence of retribution — the curse 
of the Almighty — pealing in thunders on the ear of 
affrighted nature. It was not malice which uttered the 
direful words, for God was at the beginning, is now, and 
ever shall be Love. Nevertheless, it was God himself 
who pronounced a curse upon the tempter, a curse 
upon the woman, a curse upon man, a curse upon the 
earth, for their sakes. 

Pam, and sorroiv^ now began : and pain and sorrow 



42 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

were to be continued. Transgression is the head-spring 
of sorrow. 

Occupation was a part of man's enjoyment in inno- 
cence. Now easy and pleasant v^ork is exchanged for 
hard and toilsome labor. Now that man has himself 
opened a leak in the ship, he is put under the stern ne- 
cessity of sweat, and strife, to drive out the invading 
water or be drowned. We shall see, in the proper 
time and place, how the remedy is made appropriate to 
the evil : not by removing the necessity of exertion : 
but by mitigating and modifying the curse to such a 
degree that a compensatory good is deduced from the 
necessary evil. Work in innocence was regulated and 
limited by pleasure ; but labor after defection, is im- 
posed by necessity, and is hard, exacting, and onerous. 

Next comes the curse of death. "Dust thou art, and 
unto dust shalt thou return." The most distinct pun- 
ishment of transgression was that man must die. Out 
of the ground was he taken, and unto the ground must 
he return. Man saw death before he tasted it himself. 
What emotions must have agitated his soul when, for the 
first time he saw the death of an animal, which, but for 
his guilt, would have fawned and sported before him ; 
its touching bleat, its quivering limbs, its convulsive 
palpitation, its stiffness, its coldness, its death! So 
man himself should die. Sin entered the world, and 
death by sin. That gloomy shape, which shadows .the 



DEATH. 43 

earth to-day, strode into Eden, and brandished his 
menacing dart at the guilty. 

Last of all came expulsion from Eden, That tree 
of life from which they had eaten, and might have 
eaten always but for transgression, was not to be their 
food now that they had lost their innocence. They 
were driven out of the garden — its blessedness was for- 
feited for ever. Eden was lost : nor could man regain 
and re-enter it. This is the substance of the whole 
narrative. The first probation of human nature ended 
in shame, suffering, recrimination, remorse, and death. 
The world has had one Eden — and only one. Man 
has never discovered and reclaimed it since our pro- 
genitors lost it. Fable has told us of the garden of the 
Hesperides, of Elysian fields, but who has ever found 
an Eden? We have read of royal magnificence, of 
sumptuous palaces, of gardens wrought by art, watered 
by fountains, and replenished by affluence, but we have 
never read of human abodes in which there existed the 
innocence, the love, the fearlessness, the joy, of original 
paradise. We have never read of the royal residence 
into which death might not intrude ; nor the bosom into 
which sorrow never could enter. 

Where shall we betake ourselves now to find an 
Eden ? Should we climb the steep of Ararat, would 
we find it there ? Should we voyage to those isles of 
Greece about which the memories of history throw 



44 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

their soft and radiant liglit, could we find it there ? 
Does it sleep undiscovered in the bosom of one of those 
islands in the Pacific seas which are clad with perpet- 
ual verdure ? Barbarism is there. The fairest portion, 
of the world — the cradle of the human race — the very 
plains and valleys where the fathers of our race once 
lived — are now in the possession of half-civilized and 
degenerate tribes ; nor is there one sheltered nook in 
this vast world, explore as we will, which corresponds 
to that abode, where man walked and worshipped in 
his innocence. Eden is something past, lost, and gone 
from the earth. It is an historic tradition — a form of 
probation which is finished for ever. The consequences 
of that original trial of human nature still remain ; but 
the same form of probation, on the same terms, and 
under the same auspices, has never been repeated, and 
if we read the Scriptures aright, will never be repeated 
on the earth. 

What are the consequences of that first disobedi- 
ence? Were any entailed upon the posterity of the 
first pair ? Did all the disastrous efi'ects of transgres- 
sion terminate on the two who committed the first sin, 
or did they travel over to involve, in any manner, the 
human race ? 

Without anticipating the answer to these inquiries, 
our attention is arrested by one remarkable fact. The 
history of our world did not terminate abruptly and 



THE WORLD REPRIEVED. 45 

immediately after sin had invaded and blighted it. 
God did not forsake the race that had forsaken him. 
God was not alienated from man when man was alien- 
ated from him. The life of hmnanity was not ended, 
at once and for ever, by the disastrous issue of its first 
probation. From all which is told us in revelation, 
we infer that, when the fallen angels sinned, retribu- 
tion followed immediately upon transgression. They 
" who kept not their first estate, left their own habita- 
tion, and are reserved in everlasting chains under dark- 
ness unto the judgment of the great day." For them 
was no reprieve, no redemption, no gospel of forgive- 
ness. Mark the difference. When man sinned, though 
retribution of one kind followed, yet man was spared. 
The curtain did not drop before this stage of being, nor 
the life of man go out in darkness. Mercy was mingled 
with the displeasure of justice. 

Speaking after the manner of men, we say that man's 
first probation was a failure, a disappointment, and a 
wreck. But the waves of oblivion did not roll over 
the world, nor was a new creation evoked to supply 
its place ; but the world continued, the sun shone, the 
stars kept on in their courses, time waited, and man 
was placed on a new and different probation. That 
second probation forms the great body of human histo- 
ry. The first was a mere prelude to the second. This 
explains why it is that the narrative of the first is so 



46 THE GARDEN Or^ EDEN. 

brief and condensed. It is not pertinent or practical 
to ourselves at all. We arc not deciding our destiny 
on the same probationary terms wliicli were prescribed 
to man at tlie beginning. Our immortal blessedness 
is not pivoted on the contingency of sinless obedience 
and unsullied innocence. Mercy presides over the sec- 
ond and main probation of our race ; and our destiny 
turns on our relations and dispositions to the means of 
redemption. A glimpse of coming hope and relief 
breaks through the gloom of the curse itself: ''The 
seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." 
Promise is mingled with the very utterance of displeas- 
ure ; nor does the cloud which gathered its blackness, 
and uttered its thunders over the heads of the guilty, 
discharge its contents, before the bow of hope is paint- 
ed on its gloom, to gladden their tearful eyes and de- 
sponding heart ; nor have they stepped outside the gates 
of Eden, before the second probation of human nature 
begins, under the auspices of restorative help. 

Sometimes we wonder why the closing days of the 
first man's life are not more minutely described. His 
history was prolonged through well-nigh a thousand 
years. What was the state of the world — into what 
forms and degrees of development human nature 
unfolded itself, before Adam died — we are well in- 
formed. But the personal character, the emotions, the 
hopes, the sorrows, the dying scene, of the first man, 



IN CHRIST, NOT IN ADAM. 47 

are not recorded. His second son leads the column of 
the faithful ; and the New Testament expressly men- 
tions the blood which Abel shed in sacrifice as the reli- 
gious confidence he expressed in the coming of One who 
was to redeem and restore the world. 

Not one of the human race — such is the record of the 
Word of God — not one of all its countless myriads — 
neither Adam nor one of that vast family of his — never 
yet gathered together on earth, and never but once to 
be gathered together, at the tribunal of the Son of man 
— not one of the whole will ever enter the kingdom of 
heaven on the terms of the first probation, because of 
sinless obedience — because of the deserts of an un- 
stained and unfallen glory. There is not one who 
;^ould presume to enter into judgment with God on 
such conditions. Who would invite the scrutiny of 
Omniscience, and challenge the verdict of the Almighty 
on the claim of being holy as our Maker ? Fear would 
blanch the cheek, beyond all the pallor of death, at the 
thought of terminating our earthly trial and going into 
the presence of God with such a pretence ! 

We need not wait, therefore, till we draw out, in 
scholastic order, the statement of redemption, before 
announcing what is the only hope and safety of man. 
We live under the auspices of mercy, and our salvation 
is in the remission of sins. We are not in Adam, but 
in Christ. How much bettor, how much safer, liow 



48 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

much more for our blessedness this is, will appear in 
the proper place, when we treat of those wonders of 
divine love by which the sad issues of the first proba- 
tion were overruled and superseded by the compensatory 
provisions of the second. Enough to know, the Scrip- 
tures record it, the ministry herald it, the skies reflect 
it, the world has heard it, sabbaths repeat it, time re- 
echoes it, the Spirit and the Bride proclaim it ; and, 
ere the mystery of Providence shall close, it shall roll 
around the earth from pole to pole — " God so loved 
the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth on him, should not perish, but have 
everlasting life." Behold already the terms of our 
earthly probation ! Let us flee, seasonably and joyfully, 
for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us in tno 
gospel. 



III. 

HUMAN NATURE SINCE THE APOSTACY. 

Whatever may have been thouglit of the preceding 
parts of our general subject, the topic upon which we 
now enter can never be regarded as abstract and imper- 
tinent. It may have seemed somewhat like a piece of 
ancient history, when we read of Eden, its innocence, 
its blessedness, its temptation, its blight, and its loss. 
It may have appeared very much like the study of a 
subject not only distant in point of time, but foreign 
and extraneous from ourselves in point of fact, when 
we were describing the fortunes of the first human pair. 
But the topic now before us, and next in order, comes 
home to every man's own bosom. It crowds itself, un- 
called and irrepressible, upon our thoughts, on occasions 
of the profoundest interest ; whenever a child is born 
into the world, and whenever a child dies out of it — 
wlien life begins, and life ends ; it is vital to all sys- 



60 THE GARDEN OF EDEX. 

terns of education, to all questions of philanthropy, of 
reform, of general civilization, to all the prospects of 
humanity on the earth, and to all our personal hopes 
for futurity. All are profoundly interested in the ques- 
tion whether the consequences of the apostacy termi- 
nated on the two individuals who fell from their loyalty, 
or whether they involved their immediate and remote 
progeny. Were those who were born of our first pa- 
rents, and those again who \\cre born of them, genera- 
tion after generation, as innocent and as perfect as was 
man when first created, or were they in some manner de- 
teriorated, sharing in the evils consequent upon trans- 
gression? Human nature — the general character of 
the human race — has it been modified unhappily by 
the acts narrated as occurring at the very beginning ? 
If so, m what manner, and to what degree ? 

What is the truthful theory concerning human na- 
ture ? 

No intelligent reader, only moderately informed con- 
cerning the history of opinions, needs to be reminded 
that we have fallen upon a topic about which there has 
been the greatest amount of discussion and controversy. 
It is about this very point that there has been waged 
the " conflict of ages." We have no intention of re- 
writing its history. We do not even purpose to give a 
resume of the various opinions wliich have been advo- 



DESCENDANTS OP ADAM. 51 

cated by different schools of theology on this subject. 
Indeed, it shall be my object, for the present, to avoid 
it. And I would ask the reader, by a special effort, to 
put out of mind all which he has ever heard or read of 
Augustine and Pelagius, of federal headship, of impu- 
tation, and such like scholastic and theological techni- 
calities. For such terms and distinctions there is a 
time and a place. We do not slur or slight them 
altogether because we prefer, in this connection, to re- 
strict ourselves entirely to other testimonies. 

The first-born of men, what was the character which 
he developed ? He proved a murderer, and slew his 
own brother. A fugitive and a vagabond was he upon 
the earth. A mark was placed upon him, not as a 
brand of infamy, but as a sign of exemption and clem- 
ency, that he should not be killed. That impunity, 
what effect had it upon the multiplied families of 
men ? It encouraged and augmented crime ; for La- 
mech, when he had slain a man, counted on impunity him- 
self, because of the spared life of Cain. Follow the 
stream of history — how does human nature develop it- 
self ? You say that sin being in the earth, evil exam 
pie and evil influences of all kinds wrought mischief 
on the character of all who were born in the world, 
so that their nature unfolded itself inf elicit ously. Pre 
cisely so — the verv fact which arrests attention. W 



52 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

arc not explaining facts, but stating facts. And the 
fact before us now is, that the character of the human 
race was constantly degenerating, fast as the race was 
multiplied. We read of men relatively good ; but their 
number was small. The great current of human life 
was black and turbid. Before the death of the first 
man, wickedness was so rife and rampant, that God, 
speaking in the language of men, repented that he had 
made man at all. Sixteen centuries revolved, and a 
flood swept away the world's population ; but it washed 
not out the many memories and traditions of abounding 
iniquity. The one family chosen of God to outride the 
deluge, and perpetuate the race, were they like man 
before the apostacy, and did they reinstate a new and 
higher form of humanity ? We may not even name the 
crimes which have stained that household witli guilt. 
We follow their varied fortunes. We see great conti- 
nents divided among their posterity. But we do not 
see the innocence, the harmony, the worship, the joy, 
of unblighted Eden. Wars, woes, unnumbered and un- 
mitigated, fill the world. 

At length, a new and more perfect revelation of law 
was given by God — not in the form of tradition, but 
written on tables of stone — a law by which the holiness 
of God should be illustrated, and the guilt of man made 
manifest. Simple in its terms, comprehensive in its 
nature, the law required supreme love to God, and for 



A BLIGHT ON THE RACE. 53 

our fellow-men a love equal to love for ourselves. 
Hencefortli that law becomes the criterion of human 
conduct and character. What, now, is your judgment 
concerning the development of human nature ? For- 
getting, for the time being, all theological theories, is it 
your opinion that the character of the human race has 
unfolded itself in a general correspondency with this 
rule and requirement ? Can the facts of history be com- 
pressed into such a testimony ? There can be but one 
verdict upon that inquest. Love has not been the reg- 
nant power of human life. It is not now. Even in 
this late period of time, when the Christian faith has 
introduced its help and promise, the business of the 
world, the governments of the world, the intercourse 
of men, the conduct of men, are not in accordance with 
that comprehensive legislation which requires supreme 
love to God, and joyful love between man and man. 
There is a defect in human character. There is a 
blight of some sort upon the human race. The history 
of our world is the history of a world cursed and dark- 
ened by sin. Death passes upon all men, because all 
have sinned, and Death is in the world. Since the 
door was opened for his ingress by the hand of Cain, 
never has he been driven out. He has been rava^-ins; 
and destroying ever since. He is abroad now ; and 
the marks of his desolation are all around us. 

Historical///^ this brief description of the human race 



54 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

is related to the disastrous issue of the first probation. 
It follows it in point of time and fact. That the one is 
actually connected with the other is distinctly affirmed 
in the Word of God. The sin which was first commit- 
ted is, in some manner, related to the sins which follow. 
It Avas not merely prior and precedent in the order of 
occurrence, it was also, after some method, causative in 
its nature. Is it asked what is the nature of that connec- 
tion — precisely what was the influence imparted to our 
natural constitution by the original transgression of our 
progenitor ? 

In reply to this question, any amount of theory might 
be furnished. One " school" attempts to explain it after 
this manner, and another after that. Some have writ- 
ten about a mysterious unity with Adam before we were 
born, so that his act was our act before w^e had an ex- 
istence ; others that his sin was imputed to us, because 
he was our natural head and representative, though we 
were not responsible for his appointment to that federal 
relation ; and others, that, by a divine judicial constitu- 
tion, we are held liable to punishment for it, without 
any act of our own ; and others still, denying the idea 
of imputation of another's act, yet holding that our na- 
tures are depraved anterior to choice and action ; oth- 
ers, believing that all sin is voluntary, ascribe the fact 
that men sin to an exercise of divine efficiency; and 
yet others, that our nature has been so changed — 



A BLIGHT ON THE RACE. 55 

though tlie change is not sinful itself — that it inva- 
riably leads to sin when moral agency commences. In 
addition to all which, the reader might be referred to 
learned treatises on nature, on constitution, on heredi- 
tary qualities, and such like topics ; but our preference 
and purpose just now are to dispose of the question in 
a much shorter method. When asked to explain, to 
the utmost satisfaction of the intellect, the mode in 
which human nature — our nature — the nature of our 
race — has been involved and modified by the first sin, 
we frankly reply with a confession of ignorance, we do 
not knoiv. The fact of some connection is made certain 
by tlie developments of human history, and the affirma- 
tions of inspired Scripture. You may not account for 
the imperfections of human character by the mere force 
of evil example and infelicitous circumstances. Change 
these circumstances, and human nature is not itself 
changed. The children of the best parents in the world 
are not always as good as those from whom they derive 
their being. The best examples do not always redupli- 
cate themselves in those who behold them. The fact 
of some blight, some proclivity, in our common nature, 
which inclines the whole race in the wrong direction, 
can not be questioned by those who form their opinions 
on the observation of facts and the testimony of Scrip- 
ture, rather than from abstract theories. 

Is it affirmed that such a connection with a remote 



66 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

event in human history can not be justified in equity 
and honor, we have only to say that this great matter 
of social relations and liabilities is not at all peculiar 
to the Scriptures. If the Bible were not in existence, 
we should see the same fact every day. The acts of 
an intemperate parent involve the character and desti- 
ny of his whole family for a lifetime. The analogy is 
not used to prove that the hereditary thirst, or poverty, 
or misery, which are so often entailed upon the childi^en 
of the inebriate, are the exact counterpart and idertity 
of the mysterious entailment which connects our na- 
tive character and condition with the act which first 
brought death into the world, but simply in the way of 
silencing objections, by proving that no more argument 
can lie against the record of Scripture than againsD the 
natural constitution of the world. It is an objection 
which concerns the Deist as well as the Christian be- 
liever. We may not explain the nature of the trans- 
mitted influence which connects our sin with the sin of 
Adam. It would be of little use to speculate where we 
can not know. We sin, and we are accountable for 
our own sins. To deny the fact that we sin, that all 
men sin, that all the human race are deficient in the 
judgment of the law which requires supreme love to 
God and disinterested love for our fellows, is to forswear 
the testimony of facts, the whole drift of history, and 
the positive affirmations of the inspired Word. 



MAN AS HE NOW IS. 57 

111 what respects, then, has human nature changed 
from what it once was ? Give us the horoscope of man, 
as he now is, and we shall comprehend the effects which 
have been wrought on his nature. Two opinions have 
prevailed among theological writers concerning human 
nature since the apostacy. According to one, man is 
greatly to be admired and revered ; according to the 
other, he is most abject and depraved. Paradoxical 
as it may seem, both are true, since man is to be esti- 
mated on the double scale of being and character. 

Man still possesses a reasonable souL Transgression 
did not despoil him of intelligence, and transmute him 
into an idiot or a brute. The premises on which Bos- 
suet has built his plausible and poetic theory concern- 
ing the transmission of physical effects by means of sac- 
ramental processes, arc certainly fallacious. All the 
elements of accountability have survived the fall. In- 
direct influences, beyond all doubt, sin has brought on 
the intellectual constitution of man. The human mind 
is dormant and beclouded, but its original properties 
are not destroyed. The faculty of intelligence exists, 
though it is veiled in ignorance — as the eye may be 
closed, though it be not blinded. Lamentable are the 
effects of sin on the intellect, in creating prejudices, 
superstitions, and falsehoods ; but the perversion of 
faculties implies their existence. The disorder of the 
understanding is not equivalent to its destruction. Rea- 



58 THE GARDEN OF EDExX. 

son, that greater liglit, shines, though it be through a 
haze ; and God addresses it in the truths and motives 
of his Word. Here it is that we agree with those who 
admire and revere the nature of man. This thinking 
and reasonable soul proclaims him to be the offspring 
of God. In the humblest condition, we recognise this 
spark of divinity. It outweighs gold and gems. All 
forms of mere matter, in their vastness or beauty, are 
valueless in contrast with this spiritual intelligence of 
man. He may be borne down to the very dust and 
mire, clothed in rags, pinched with want ; but he has 
a soul capable of cultivation, subject to growth, and 
destined to immortality. It is of more worth than the 
whole material world. We dare not think lightly of 
man's being. We are awed when we survey its great 
and growing properties. However mean the clay with 
which it is associated, some lineaments of the divine 
likeness still remain. In exile, in shame, in prison, in 
wo, man may be, but the long chain of his pedigree 
connects him still with God himself. Inspired Scrip- 
ture authorizes us to pronounce man as the image of 
God, even since his apostacy. 

Besides these faculties of understanding and reason, 
man possesses others which heighten our conceptions of 
his greatness. He has powers of imagining, of invent- 
ing, of executing, which invest him with the dignity of 
a secondary creatorship. He has tastes by which he 



MAN AS HE NOW IS. 59 

admires what is beautiful in nature, skilful in art, gen- 
erous in feeling, and noble in conduct. Affections has 
he which bind him to kindred, to home, to country. 
Susceptibilities to gratitude, to honor, has he, and these 
are often greatly developed by culture. Fairness of 
judgment would require, in making an analysis of hu- 
man nature as it now is, that we should bear in mind 
how much it has already been modified and improved 
by the direct or indirect effect of the Christian religion, 
now for so long a time leavening the heart of the race. 
It were hardly ingenuous, when pronouncing upon the 
qualities of human nature, to take into account the re- 
storative effects of Christianity, and use these as an 
argument to prove that humanity was uninjured and in 
need of no help and medication. Nevertheless, it would 
be difficult to over-estimate those varied and immortal 
faculties which, even in his degeneracy, secure to man 
a grade, on the scale of being, little lower than the 
angels. 

It is true, moreover, that man still possesses that 
freedom of will w^ith which he was originally created. 
By free agency is meant precisely what the words im- 
port, without the least reserve or equivocation — capa- 
city of choice commensurate with requisition. They 
are not words attached to religious creeds, to amuse 
the ear, and to keep off odium from a system of fatal- 
ism. When man was first created, and placed on pro- 



60 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

bation, God dealt with him as a responsible being. So 
deals he with us. Brutes are impelled by blind in- 
stinct : the vis inertia of matter is overcome by physi- 
cal force ; but man is addressed by methods of persua- 
sion suited to his nature. Moral government can not 
outlast the extinction of those qualities which consti- 
tute accountability. Our personal consciousness testi- 
fies to this continued existence of responsible freedom. 
Remorse is the painful admission of having done wrong 
against the conscious power and obligation to do what 
is right. The fact that sin is universal, in the history 
of our race, does not modify the nature of sin, making 
it less the free act of a responsible subject of law. The 
fact that men sin inflexibly and desperately does not 
disprove their moral freedom ; the action of the mind 
in such cases, being as really voluntary as any act of 
choice whatever, differing from ordinary volition only 
in this, that it includes and absorbs a greater energy 
of mind, and comprehends a greater amount and inten- 
sity of criminal purpose that any other action whatever. 
Dimmed and blighted by the consequences of sin, as 
earthen vessels are corroded by the vapor of the acids 
which they contain, the original faculties of our na- 
ture are not destroyed. United to a life which is end- 
less — brought into play in connection with immortal- 
ity — they make man a being still, little short of divine, 
in whose presence we are awed — and tlie moment we 



THE RULE OF JUDGMENT. 61 

suffer ourselves to think lightly or meanly of man's ca- 
pacities we lose the last hope of his restoration. The 
highest proof of man's greatness and worth, is in what 
God has done for his recovery. The Scriptures exalt 
man's being' beyond all which man himself ever con- 
ceived ; and this always in connection with his moral 
apostacy. 

Were the expression adopted — ^^ human nature is 
sinful" — an explanation of the terms would be de- 
manded which would lead us from historic fact into 
the region of metaphysical inquiry. The use of in- 
spired language is preferred: ^'AU have sinned, and 
come short of the glory of God." 

Scriptural assertion and palpable fact arc hero 
agreed. Man has intelligence, capacity, conscience, 
and freedom ; but he has not obedience. By what test 
is obedience to be judged ? The revealed law of God. 
Another test was prescribed to the first man, even that 
he should abstain from an interdicted object. The cri- 
terion of human character now is this epitome of divine 
legislation : '' Thou shilt love the Lord thy God 

WITH ALL THY HEART, WITH ALL THY SOUL, WITH ALL 
THY STRENGTH, WITH ALL THY MIND, AND THY NEIGHBOR 

AS THYSELF." Tried by this rule — and not another — 
the character of man is defective. Man does not love 
his Maker with all his heart, nor his neighbor as him- 
Belf. The collective word denotes the human race, 



62 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

without an individual exception. There is none who 
has fulfilled that law — without a defect or infringement 
— no not one. In moral depravity there are degrees. 
There are providential restraints upon its develop- 
ment ; especially now that the Christian redemption 
lias wrought so much. It is a libel on humanity and 
the perversion of a truth, to affirm that men are as 
utterly bad as they might be ; for besides restraints, 
social and providential, there are laws, many of which 
man has himself enacted, the shadows of a greater stat- 
ute, 4o which he may be conformed in the practice of 
all which is generous, honest, and humane ; but the tes- 
timony of history and Scripture is, that by that divine 
law which demands the supreme love of the soul to 
God, the character of the human race is defective. 
Noble specimens there have been of humanity, espe- 
cially as redeemed and helped by Christianity ; but 
where and when has there been one, out of all the 
race, who, in an honest judgment, has obeyed the 
perfect law of his Maker, without the deflection of a 
thought or the defect of a moment ? 

Change man's circmnstances as you will — give him 
a Christian parentage — place before him a goodly ex- 
ample — here is something which may be affirmed of 
the whole species ; they do not fulfil the law which 
demands perfect and supreme love to God and man. 
The first probation of human nature, on principles of 



PRESENT CONDITION. 63 

obedience, terminated disastrously ; and tried on tho 
same terms, our common nature has been found defec- 
tive and depraved ever since. 

The circumstances of man's condition correspond 
somewhat to his character. All sin is not to be as- 
cribed to a vitiated bodily constitution ; but the human 
body is subject to strong and ill-regulated appetences 
— to pain, disease, and death. Fast as the redemptive 
help is applied to the world, man's physical condition 
improves ; but it were nothing but delusion to afiirm 
that his condition now is what it would have been if 
sin had not shadowed the earth. It was not misan- 
thropy, but inspired truth, which affirmed that man was 
born to trouble as sparks fly upward. Innumerable 
compensations, mitigations, and mercies, remain, but 
every man who is born into this world comes in con- 
tact with evils which do not belong to a state of sinless 
innocence. Sufferings and sorrows, not to speak of 
wrongs, oppressions, and wars, remind us that we live 
in a world on which rests the curse of sin, and which 
is filled with the penalties of transgression. 

All this, instead of lessening, augments our interest 
in man. It has frequently been alleged that this rep- 
resentation of human nature tends only to its depres- 
sion and contempt. Quite the reverse of this is the 
truth. If nothing else could give importance to man, 
it would be the fact that he has sinned. We need not 



64 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

compute his faculties, nor trace liis genealogy, nor 
measure his capacity to learn man's real greatness : sin 
forbids his obscurity, and attracts toward him a new 
and higher regard. Let one commit a crime in the 
community, which is against that community's peace 
and security, and forthwith he emerges into conspicu- 
ity. His very name may have been unknown before ; 
his life may have been passed in the deepest recesses 
of obscurity, but now the eyes of a whole country are 
turned upon him ; magistracy, however exalted, does 
not deem itself debased by being busy in his apprehen- 
sion ; the officers of justice are on his track ; the land 
and the sea are traversed for his discovery ; and it is 
crime^ and nothing but crime, which has concentrated 
on that unknown and obscure man the notice and pur- 
poses of an outraged people. It is because the honor 
of law, the security of society, are involved in such a 
deed, that crime itself lifts one up out of the very 
depths of contempt to answer at the bar of offended 
justice. If man's original nature had not been enough 
to challenge the regard he craves ; if the skill of 
God's right hand and the inspiration of the Almighty 
combining in his being were not sufficient to exalt him 
high in the affairs of the universe, his apostacy surely 
would do it. The honor of the divine majesty, the sta- 
bility of God's throne, the loyalty of other orders of 
existence, all are related to man as a sinner. Say not 



CRIME GIVES IMPORTANCE. 65 

that man is too insignificant a being to warrant all the 
regard and costliness of redemption, all the high ac- 
tions which seem to centre upon him, sin has given him 
a strange importance ; nor do we deem it derogatory 
to the honor of the Most High, while other worlds may 
be wheeling on in their orbits of joyous innocence, 
that his chief notice should be directed to this world 
blighted by sin, even as the shepherd leaveth the ninety 
and nine which went not astray, and went forth to seek 
and to save the one which was lost. Aside from the 
fact that the compassions of God are evoked by the 
necessities of a race known to be in revolt, revolt 
itself is an incident which all the perfections of God 
are pledged to notice ; so that if it be true — and who 
can say whether it be so ? — that this world which we 
inhabit is the only one, out of the vast universe, which 
is disloyal and sinful, we have herein discovered a rea- 
son why the gaze of angels and the thoughts of God 
are directed so intently upon it. 

It is hard to discuss topics like that now before us 
as if they were independent and insulated facts. We 
know that the apostacy of man is associated with re- 
storative help. The tree may divest itself of the fibres 
which make up its own substance, the rock may throw 
off from itself the accretions of ages, but the soul, edu- 
cated under the auspices of the Christian fiiith, can not 
divest itself of that knowledo-e of Christ and salva 



66 THE GARDEN OP EDEN. 

tion, wliich has grown and strengthened with its own 
being. If we could conceive of a world darkened and 
burdened by sin, as is our own — of such a fact by 
itself, in its own un cheered and unmitigated gloom — 
we might well summon up our utmost faculties to 
weigh and solve the problem, how the goodness of God 
could be justified in its creation. But now we can not, 
by any violence, insulate the fact of man's apostacy. 
The clouds which envelop our world have many rifts, 
through wliich the light is shining; nay, the world 
itself is all illuminated with this central truth, that 
with God is plenteous redemption, and human history 
is not all dark, nor our paths cheerless, nor our pros- 
pects desperate. 

Our personal wisdom is in the acknowledgment of 
our personal unworthiness. Plead the power of tempta- 
tion, the force of example, any form or number of in- 
ducements, and after all truth holds us fast to this 
unbribed and eternal testimony of conscience, that we 
have sinned, and every sin of ours must pass under 
judicial notice. Let us acknowledge it honestly and 
penitently, and find the humiliations of regret the door 
of hope, through which we enter upon the way of 
return to a second and better paradise. 



IV. 

HUMAN NATURE NOT SELF-RECUPERATIVE. 

Whether we are able to explain the connection or 
Jot ; whether we adopt this theory or that relative to the 
manner in which the whole human family are involved 
in the consequences of primeval transgression ; whether 
we resolve it into the effect of evil example, or heredi- 
tary propensities, physical or moral, or unpropitious cir- 
cumstances, or a judicial constitution, or federal head- 
ship — the fact is authenticated by Scripture, observa- 
tion, and history, that, in some manner, our common 
nature has deteriorated from its original perfection. 

The question now arises, whether the nature of man 
possesses any power of self-restoration ? Let us state 
the problem more at length. 

"We began with considering man's original nature and 
condition. We saw him when he was the perfect im- 
age of his Maker. His body was perfect in its organi- 



68 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

zation and functions. His mind was pure in its intelli- 
gence, with no mist of prejudice or superstition. His 
conscience was ignorant as yet of the very existence of 
evil. He rejoiced in the approbation and blessing of 
God. He was a stranger to fear, to sorrow, and to 
death. In a word, he was in a state of unmixed and 
unsullied blessedness. All this was forfeited by trans- 
gression. We have seen some of the woes which have 
been entailed upon our race— some of those baleful 
consequences which have been rolling down these many 
centuries, spreading themselves out far and fast as the 
race itself has extended — consequences which, in some 
manner, involve ourselves — and now we ask whether 
there be any power in ourselves to recover ourselves 
out of this condition ? Can a ruined race restore itself, 
unaided by any foreign power ? Let us consider how 
much is implied in these terms. 

Can human nature reinstate itself in sinless innO' 
cence ? We do not ask that the memory of sin should 
be extinguished. That which is past can not be re- 
called ; and that which has been is fixed like rooted 
oaks and immoveable rocks. But can we ever review 
the past without the poignancy of remorse and the blush 
of shame ? Can we ever reach the time and place in 
which the sin that has been shall shed on us no more of 
lurid glare, and sin for time to come shall not be at 



A NEW PROBLEM. 69 

all ? Show us how it is that man, disabled, distressed 
as he is by a sense of unworthiness, may recover the 
consciousness of absolute innocence. It is a part of the 
problem w^hich awaits our solution, whether man as he 
is, all men, may be restored to a state in which there 
shall be no disposition, no proclivity, no tendency what- 
ever, to sin. 

The problem is, whether the body of man can be 
delivered from all those consequences which came in 
with transgression. We would have it again free from 
disorder, deformity, and pain, as when it first came 
from the plastic hand of the Almighty. We would 
have it with no unheal thful appetite, no unregulated 
passion, no law in the members warring against the 
law in the mind ; but in every regard perfect as it was 
when God pronounced it superlatively good. 

The problem involves even more than this — that 
there should be no more discord and disagreement be- 
tween the several properties of his intellectual and 
moral constitution. The will does not now obey the 
decisions of the reason. The affections do not now 
correspond to the judgment of the conscience. Hence 
there is strife and distress in the soul. We would have 
this unnatural discord cease for ever ; so that the un- 
derstanding, will, and affections, man's living person- 
ality, should bo perfectly harmonized and united. 

Moreover, it is involved in our inquiry that man 



70 THE GARDEN OF EDExV. 

should regain a stato of unmingled joy ; that the last 
shadow should be chased away from his elevated brow, 
and the last fear be expelled from his heart. He is 
now subject to the visitations of sorrow. His head is 
bent, and his heart often broken, by trouble. Afflic- 
tions stalk unbidden into his home, and touch the sin- 
ews of his strength. Can he put himself beyond the 
reach and power of these strange visitants ? Recall 
every element of that unblighted abode, in which no 
tear was ever shed, no sin was ever committed, but 
fullness of joy, and pleasures unmixed and uninter- 
rupted, rolled their sparkling tides through the gar- 
den of God, and tell us whether it shall ever be re- 
gained ? 

Nor have we yet reached the limits of this great prob- 
lem. Death came into the world in the footsteps of 
Sin. Can this terrific power be driven out from the 
world, and the gates barred for ever against his second 
intrusion ? We wait to know whether man himself can 
defeat this great enemy ; not only exempting himself 
from his power, but binding the desolating and destroy- 
ing king, disarming and abolishing him for ever. Solve 
the question for aching anxiety — can man restore him- 
self, so that he shall not see death ? May he, by any 
self-recuperation, deliver himself from the curse which 
now bears the race to the grave, so that the young 
child sliall not die, putting away from his lip the cup 



THE PROBLEM STATED. 71 

of life untasted — nor the old man, when the cup has 
been drained to the bitterness of its dregs ? 

Give back to man his first and pleasant occupation : 
exchange labor, with its sweat and weariness, for sim- 
ple work, with its elastic spring and delights. For mu- 
tual recrimination, envy, and jealousy, give to men 
confidence, harmony, and love, such as characterized 
the society of Eden. Drive out from the world every 
phantom shape of fear — every form of sufi'ering, and 
shame, and wo ; let not another grave disfigure the sur- 
face of the rejuvenated earth ; let Death, with all the 
train of his gloomy attendants, be banished from the 
world which he has so long shadowed, so that his rav- 
ages shall be a faded memory of what has once been, 
and never again an actual reality ; let the last vestige 
of evil disappear ; the world, as it is, be made again as 
it was ; guilt, sighs, fears, pains, repulsion from God, 
and God's displeasure, exchanged for innocence, delight, 
security, peace, pleasure, fullness of joy, and immortal- 
ity ! Anything short of this will not suffice. Can it 
be done ? Can man accomplish it ? How much of this 
has been, how much may we believe will be, achieved 
by the self-recuperative energy and elasticity of our 
afflicted nature ? 

The circumstances in which we come to the solution 
of the problem now stated are peculiar. We have the 
key to it in our possession. We arc, and ever liavo 



72 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

been, enjoying the positive revelation of divine help. 
We commenced our life in a Christian land ; and the 
very first knowledge we acquired related to the name 
and services of a Saviour. We are already apprized 
of all which has been undertaken and promised by the 
Redeemer. That very sound, so familiar to our ears, 
which love hummed in grateful music over our cradle 
— Jesus^ the Saviour — that pleasant word which, like 
the rays of the morning, has sent its cheerful light and 
hope into the darkness of this apostate world — the 
gospel — the glorious gospel of the blessed God — have 
assured us that a process of recovery and restoration is 
going on already — not yet perfected, but large and am- 
ple in its promises for the future. To convince our- 
selves how much we owe to this only hope of relief, we 
must, by an effort somewhat violent, endeavor to ima- 
gine the state of the world when, as yet, it was un- 
cheered by the knowledge of divine interposition. 

Perhaps it is not possible for the human mind, even 
through a process of the imagination, and that for any 
season, to divest itself of what it knows already, for an 
assured certainty. Precious stones will emit, even in 
darkness, some of the rays of the sun which they have 
absorbed in daylight. The body can not in a moment 
put out of its bones and muscles the vigor which it has 
acquired from the food on which it has long been nur- 
tured. We can not throw ourselves into any deprea- 



DISHONEST REASONING. 73 

sion so dark, that no ray from the cross of Christ will 
steal into tiie gloom. Nevertheless, we must endeavor, 
for a season, to imagine the state and condition of 
hmnanity, in which, with all the entailments and con- 
sequences of sin full and weighty upon it, all its pro- 
clivities strong and vigorous, no restorative process has 
been disclosed, and we are left unassisted to weigh 
the probabilities of its self-recovery. Great dishonesty 
is often practised by those who are unwilling to confess 
their entire indebtedness to the gospel of our Lord. 
Receiving the knowledge and the hopes of revelation 
into their minds from the beginning of existence — in- 
formed, instructed, and illuminated, by the promises of 
redemption — they are not sufficiently generous to ac- 
knowledge their obligations, but affirm how much may 
be gathered from Nature, and how little we need any 
superior assistance ! The spoils which they collect from 
revelation are made to decorate their own idolatries. 
The very facts which belong to the Word of God, and 
to that only — the very cordials which have wrought 
reviving to our fainting nature — the very hopes with 
which the world is made brighter — their lineage is so 
far disowned, and their true origin so unfairly ignored, 
that humanity claims for itself all which has been 
achieved and promised by a superior help. 

It is not unreasonable, therefore, to ask the reader 
to look at human history and human nature aside from 



<4 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

the restorative power of tlie Christian redemption. We 
dare not ask him to forget, even for an instant, the song 
of Bethlehem, the garden of Gethsemane, the cross of 
Calvary, the sepulchre of Joseph, and the mount of 
Ascension. We dare not ask him to let slip out of his 
mind the great sayings of Jesus, which have caused so 
many to hope, and which are the only anchor to man's 
tossed and imperiled soul. But we must ask it of him 
that, by a most careful and honest discrimination, he 
will separate what is human from what is divine — what 
has been accomplished by humanity itself, unaided and 
alone, and what has been undertaken and promised by 
the redemption of God. 

And now, where is the instance, in the long life of 
our race, in which our ruined nature has recovered it- 
self ? Point us to one authenticated fact of history which 
proves that any community of men, or any individual 
out of all the race, by any spring and rebound of self- 
recuperation, have regained all which was lost by the 
apostacy. We have had dreams and philosophies, Uto- 
pian schemes and poetic illusions ; we have had the con- 
vulsive efforts of necessity, and the spasms of fear and 
despair ; but ivlio and ivhere were the men who have 
actually recovered themselves from the disasters of sin, 
and secured an absolute exemption from all the evils 
of transgression ? 

We have noticed Avith surprise that, concerning a 



HISTORIC EXPERIMENT. 75 

large space of timej in the early history of the world, 
the inspired annals furnish us with so little information. 
Sixteen centuries — almost as long as from the advent 
of Christ to this present time — are despatched, in sa- 
cred history, in the briefest possible mention. What 
was the meaning of that immense chasm and void in 
the life of our race ? The world was full of people ; 
but it was full of sin. May not this be the import of 
that historic lesson — to furnish, for all time, one un- 
deniable proof that, left to himself, apostate man had 
no power or prospect of recovery ? Knowledge of 
promised relief was limited : all which existed was in 
the form of tradition, and this growing fainter and 
fainter, like a dying echo ; providential restraints were 
few ; so to speak, God seems to have withdrawn him- 
self from the race that sought to be independent of him, 
that the world might know, for all time, that ruined 
mind never restores itself ; that the planet which breaks 
away from the attraction of the sun, finds no power with- 
in itself by which it is brought back, but its centrifugal 
force is multiplied with terrific speed, driving it farther 
and farther, faster and faster, into the blackness of dark- 
ness. Left to itself, the race of man increased in wick- 
edness with such gigantic strides, that the earth and 
the skies sickened at the spectacle, and the waters of 
the great deep swept them away. The termination of 
that first long stage of human history was tlie delude. 



76 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

Blighted humanity did not recover itself. Sin raged 
on, exasperated and inflamed more and more. Though 
tlie experiment was measured by centuries, yet we can 
understand how this may prove a real economy of time, 
in the prolonged life of our race, if that which was 
wrought on so vast a scale will suffice for the world's 
conviction, so that the experiment need not to be re- 
peated again. The very best illustration of what hu- 
man nature would be, permitted to develop itself, with- 
out a written revelation, without a gospel, and without 
those corrective and restoring ideas and forces which 
the Christian religion has introduced, is presented in 
those sixteen hundred years of God's patience, when 
wickedness grew so mighty, that the Spirit, in record- 
ing the history, has described it only in general expres- 
sions, mercifully concealing from our view the spectacle 
of accumulated and unrestrained iniquity. 

There has been no other period of time since that, in 
which the human race was left to its own development, 
witliout any application or promise of relief. 

As the drama of Providence unfolds, religious insti- 
tutions are appointed, and the true religion is gradu- 
ally revealed. The world is never again to be as it was. 
That religion, indeed, was communicated to one only 
from among the many tribes of the earth. Some rays 
of it were ever shooting into the surrounding darkness. 
Traditions of the true rcli^rion were carried into the 



DISPOSAL OF SIN. 77 

" regions beyond." Ideas started on their endless cir- 
cuits, and new thoughts began their eternal march. 
These rays of truth were refracted by the dense medium 
of superstition and ignorance, but their existence is to 
be traced to a celestial origin ; so that the light they 
shed is not to be ascribed to man's power of self-recov- 
ery, but is a part of that restorative system which God 
has revealed to human helplessness. 

The first great problem which tasked the reason of 
man was the remission of sin. Sin, as a fact, is to be 
noticed in some manner. We have seen what impor- 
tance it gives to meanness, what conspicuity to obscu- 
rity. The human conscience, touched with the sense of 
demerit, has always admitted that sin must pass under 
the judicial attention of Supreme Power, and in some 
manner be disposed of. Hoio shall it be disposed of? 
Shall it be forgiven ? How can it be forgiven ? Who 
shall assure the guilty of this welcome fact ? Has Na- 
ture whispered it ? What so unrelenting as Nature ! 
She has smiles, caresses, and delights, for the innocent. 
But what power is so stern, inflexible, and mighty, as 
Nature to the guilty ? Man violates her laws, and he 
meets the shock and recoil of naked power ! There 
are no deviations nor alleviations to her undiverted 
penalties. Reason takes up the problem — weighs it — 
revolves it — and her verdict, as uttered by one of her 
highest oracles, is, ^' I see not how God can forgive sin." 



78 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

There is no recovery for man, till sin, in some man- 
ner, be disposed of. The secret of its remission, has 
man ever discovered it ? No bird of paradise has car- 
olled it in his ear ; the stars of the firmament have never 
so arranged themselves as to write it ; the depth saith, 
" It is not in me," and the height answereth, " It is not 
with me ;" the winds never proclaimed it, nor does the 
sea roll it out in its anthem ; and, from all his question- 
ings, reasonings, and strivings, man has fallen back 
upon the vain endeavor to propitiate offended power, 
and to make expiation for his own sin by means of his 
own sufferings. Self-torture is the creed of paganism. 
The uneasy sense of demerit man has sought to relieve 
by self-inflicted suffering. To this point man has been 
driven, in all times, by the stern power of an unap- 
paased and unenlightened conscience. Has it accom- 
plished what it pretends ? 

The real question is, have all the so-called expiations 
of men availed to quench remorse, reinstate conscious 
innocence, and secure a sense of God's favor ? Is pa- 
ganism successful in its project ? Does Joy dwell in 
the temples of idolatry? Does Gladness make her 
abode among the worshippers of Moloch and Jugger- 
naut ? The mother who casts her wailing infant into 
the jaws of river-monsters, giving the fruit of the body 
for the sin of the soul ; the man who swings on hooks 
which pierce the living flesh ; the pilgrim who wends 



DISPOSAL OF SORROW. 79 

Ids lonely way tlirough long and weary miles — shall 
we affirm tliat they have discovered the long-hidden 
mystery ? Are the acclamations of sober pleasure on 
their lips, and are they the most joyful and blessed of 
men ? Have they accomplished their own restoration, 
expiated their own sins, won the complacent smile of 
their Maker, and reinstated themselves in peace and 
innocence ? To affirm it were a falsity. They are the 
most miserable, pale, emaciated, forlorn, and abject, of 
the human race. 

The sorroivs w^hich are in the world, it were impos- 
sible that man should not inquire how he must meet 
and remove them. Wisdom took up the problem, and 
pondered it long. We have her reasonings, debates, 
and conclusions. Her best counsel is, that we should 
bear in silence what we can not avoid. Exemption 
from suffering she could not promise : the soul must arm 
itself with indifference, and care not what befalls us. 
Between having and not having, between holding and 
losing, between smiles and tears, there is but a small 
distinction. Meet every event with stoical unconcern. 
Be impassable, by being insensible. This is philoso- 
phy. The question is, does the prescription accomplish 
what is needed ? Was there no suffering in the heart 
of Zeno — no sorrow in the bosom of his disciples ? 
Man was not a stoic in his innocence, insensible and 
impassive. That were not recovery and restoration, 



80 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

which makes man, even if it could do as much, to bear 
suffering with compressed lips and a stout heart. We 
are asking for exemjUion from all occasions of suffer- 
ing — for such a reinstatement in tearless joy as man 
experienced before he fell. Men do not eradicate 
the instinct of happiness, so they have snatched at in- 
temperate joys, and indulged in frantic pleasures of 
sense, and murky visions of enjoyment have led them 
on ; but it were needless to affirm that they have never 
found that fullness and purity of joy which reigned in 
sinless Eden. 

Concerning the inclination to sin, has man discov- 
ered the power of its restraint and correction ? It was 
the free-will of man, as we have seen, which was put on 
trial in the first probation. It is in man's free-will that 
the defect is seated which develops itself in sin. It is 
not that man's perception of right and wrong is de- 
stroyed, but that his loill is disinclined to duty and right. 
Can this defect in the main-spring be remedied without 
the intervention of foreign aid ? Increase man's knoAvl- 
edge, his will is not rectified. Reason may draw the 
right deductions, and reach the true conclusions, but 
the will does not necessarily go with them. The senti- 
ment which the Christian apostle has recorded, when 
describing the impotence of human nature to reinstate 
itself — " That which I would, I do not ; and that which 
I would not, that I do" — has been avowed almost in 



DISPOSAL OF DEATH. 81 

the same language by many of the most distinguished 
of thinking men, who had not the light of the true re- 
ligion. They could approve the good, while they were 
inclined to the evil. The luill^ deflected from the right, 
is not rectified by knowledge, by conscience, by law, 
by authority, by force, by fear. By what method can it 
be recovered to that which is good, without impairing 
its nature, and modifying its freedom ? Has this ever 
been done by its own unassisted resolution ? 

Death came in with sin. Has man ever been able 
to recover himself from its power ? Has he ever dis- 
covered the means of arresting decay, resupplying the 
waste of life, reproducing and perpetuating it? He 
has disciplined himself to rigid habits, prescribed the 
utmost simplicity, nurtured and regulated the body with 
extremest care ; but at length it died. He has dreamed 
of an elixir, which, if discovered, would renew the en- 
feebled energies of life, and prolong it for ever. He 
has dreamed, again, of fountains possessed of such ce- 
lestial properties, that old age should find itself reju- 
venated, and the waning life of man be reproduced in 
perpetual vigor and beauty. But Death actually dissi- 
pated the dreams — entering the cell of the alchemist, 
busy with his illusions of prolonging mortal existence 
by philosophic art. The march of the destroyer was 
never stayed as yet by such follies and fancies ; nor 
could man, following his desolating, burning footprints, 



82 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

devise the method of a future restoration. Ancient po- 
etry babbled of Elysian fields, of shades, of spirits in a 
land of spirits ; but did man himself ever dream of the 
body's restoration, its resurrection to a second life, 
with power, honor, strength, beauty, and glory, trans- 
cending that frame which God himself fashioned out of 
the dust in the beginning? Never, not even in his 
dreams, has man conceived of this. 

Then have we demonstrated the utter disability of 
man to recover himself from the direful penalties of 
transgression. He can not discover how sin can be 
forgiven ; or noticed and disposed of, without visiting 
upon himself a deserved retribution. With all his ex- 
pedients, efforts, and experiments, he has never suc- 
ceeded in retrieving his losses, and regaining the posi- 
tion which he held anterior to apostacy. We have had 
the wisdom of the world, but it has not been a wisdom 
unto salvation. It was according to the wisdom of God 
that the power of man's self-restoration should be fully 
and fairly tested. Time enough was allowed for the 
experiment ; four thousand years were finished before 
the Redeemer was born ; the human faculties had ample 
time to mature and develop ; each new generation had 
opportunity to borrow results and advantages from 
those which preceded ; the highest wisdom of man was 
brought into play ; unaided humanity has struggled up 
to the very highest summits which learning, wealth, 



I 



HUMAN EXPEDIENTS. 83 

power, could reach — the experiment has been brought 
out in history — and that unevangelized development, 
like summer fruit, has perished in its own ripeness ; 
having no self-preserving quality, and passing rapidly 
into decay and corruption. 

Now that the redemption of Christ has applied its 
mighty leverage, and wrought so much, and promised 
the more, for man's restoration, there are many who, 
discarding divine help, trust to measures of their own 
devising ; forswearing that gospel which is the wisdom 
of God and the power of God, and suggesting rem- 
edies and expedients of another quality. Now as- 
cribing all the degeneracy of man to external circum- 
stances, they propose to reorganize society — as if so- 
ciety itself were anything more or less than an expo- 
nent of the individuals who compose it. Now they sug- 
gest some novel method of physical training — as if the 
virus of sin were to be purged by simpler diet, a hard- 
ier life, and a better ablution ; and now it is some po- 
etic or philosophic fancy of indefinite perfectibility — 
along the line of which the life of our race is propelled 
by a predestined and irresistible necessity. Forces of 
prodigious might are indeed at work, slowly lifting up 
the deluged earth from its long depression, and revolving 
its surface into sunlight ; but these are all of a celestial 
origin. Infidelity, and paganism even, share in the gen- 
eral benefits of that Christian redemption which they 



84 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

utterly ignore — moving along with that world to which 
they belong, and which bears all things onward with 
itself. 

Subtracting these new helps and attractions which 
the only true religion has introduced for the world's 
recovery, can you point us to any one generation in all 
the past, one tribe or people from among all the varied 
forms of human life, one individual out of our blighted 
and ruined race, that has succeeded in regaining the 
position which was held by man in the world's morn- 
ing, with innocence, joy, fearlessness, and God's com- 
munion and benediction ? If the solitary instance can 
not be authenticated, the conclusion which we reach 
is the utter impossibility of man's self-restoration. 
Unhelped of Heaven his impotence at recovery is com- 
plete. Left to himself, he is borne downward by a 
swift and mighty current. Resorting to his own reme- 
dies only, he is nothing better, but rather the worse. 

That which he needs is something more than educa- 
tion, in the strict sense of the term — something more 
than can ever be educed out of himself — somethimr 
more than growth, or development of what he now is. 
He needs what he has not in himself at all— an im- 
parted power, a help from without — life unto the dead. 

Some of the consequences of transgression — man 
might as well attempt to build a planet as to think of ar- 
resting them alone. He may put forth his puny arm to 



ACTUAL DIFFICULTIES. 86 

stop tlic mighty forces which bind the universe, but he 
can not stay those eternal ordinances of Heaven which 
connect suffering and retribution with sin. He may 
strive, he may weep, he may resist, but he can not escape 
from the sheriff-grasp of death. It is hard to mend any- 
thing which is broken — to restore it to its original and 
normal integrity. The branch of a tree — if it be bro- 
ken off, it is hard to attach it again — fibre to fibre, bark 
to bark — so that the sap shall course again through its 
living heart, and no unseemly scar disfigure its surface. 
A harder thing than this is to heal a broken confi- 
dence, restore a wounded affection, recover an alienated 
love, regain a lost innocence, reclaim a ruined mind, 
correct a perverse will, and redeem a fallen nature. 
A harder thing still is it, while accomplishing all this 
through the ministries of mercy, to adjust a disordered 
government, uphold a violated law, and provide for the 
sanctities and majesty of the ruling power. But the 
hardest thing of all, that which man's eye never had 
seen, nor his ear heard, nor his heart conceived, was 
to make sin the instrument of its own defeat ; overru- 
ling and subjecting events after such a manner that 
apostacy should terminate in a higher elevation, shame 
in a stronger confidence, weakness in a greater strength, 
imbecility in a better security, hostility in a larger 
love, darkness in a brighter light, sorrow in a fuller 
joy, and death itself in a happier life. Tliat v/hich man 



86 THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

could not do, wliich confounds and abases his utmost 
wisdom, that God lias done, is doing, and will do, for 
all who believe. 

It remains for us to consider the nature of the relief 
which has actually been provided ; the Being by whom 
it is brought ; the wisdom of its adaptation ; the power 
of its remedy ; the results it has already achieved ; and 
the promises which gild futurity with unclouded splen- 
dor. Even while we are meditating on man's helpless- 
ness — gazing at humanity wounded, fainting, and dying 
— we hear the joyful sound rolling along the upper sky, 
it falls on the ear of the perishing, it enters the cell of 
the prisoner, the chains of the captive begin to loosen, 
Hope stands ready to throw open the door : '' Israel, 
thou hast destroyed thyself: but in me is thy Help." 



THE GAKDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 



The Saviour comes ! by ancient bards foretold ! 

Hear him ye deaf, and all ye blind behold ! 

He from thick films shall purge the visual ray, 

And on the sightless eyeball pour the day. 

Tu ho th' obstructed paths of sound shall c!ca? 

An 1 bid new music charm the unfolding car ; 

The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch fjit^M 

And leap exulting like the bounding roc. 

No sigh, no murmur, the wide world shall hear. 

From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear. 

Pope. 



V. 

MAN'S EEDEMPTION. 

The city of Jerusalem was the centre and religious 
metropolis of the world. It was designated as the city 
of God, and contained the temple and appointments of 
the only true religion. 

Just to the east of this city, separated from the high 
walls by a valley, through which ran the brook Kidron, 
was the mount of Olives. Near the foot of the mount, 
and on its western slope, was a garden, filled with olive- 
trees, and affording an inviting retreat from the dust 
and noise of the city. The remains of this garden are 
still visible. A low, broken wall marks the bounds of 
the enclosure, within which are eight large olive-trees, 
whose age is measured by centuries, beneath the shelter 
of which many a traveller from the western world, in 
modern times, has reclined, and read out of the Bible 
the fifty-tliird chapter of Isaiah, and the closing chap- 
ters of the gospel by John. 



90 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

Into this garden let us now enter. It is a beauti- 
ful land where it is situated, and this now in the 
blush and bloom of spring: but it is not Eden, It 
is night ; and the night is cold, for it is not long be- 
fore the mail-clad and hardy soldiers of Rome kindle 
a fire for themselves in the open court of the high- 
priest's palace. The night is dark, for men are soon 
groping about in it Y^ith lanterns. The wind sighs 
mournfully through the bending trees, and the heavy 
moisture drops from the leaves as if they were weeping. 
Everything seems to be infected with a strange sorvow. 
All is silence and solitude. 

At an unwonted hour, twelve men are seen to go over 
the brook Kidron, and enter the garden. Four of the 
number separate themselves from the rest, and proceed 
still farther under the shadow of the trees. The prin- 
cipal person in the group arrests our attention by his 
deep depression. We overhear him saying to his com- 
panions, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto 
death." He appears in the extreme of agony. With- 
drawing into the deeper solitude of the garden, he 
kneels on the earth and prays : " my Father, if it be 
possible, let this cup pass from me." From his knees 
he falls prostrate on his face, there upon the damp, cold 
ground. He rises and returns to his three companions, 
as if he needed some expression of sympathy. His p.u- 
guish allowing no rest, he goes a second time, and in 



THE SUFFERER. 91 

his prostration prays again : '' If it be possible, let this 
cup pass from me." Again he passes to and fro, in un- 
controllable sorrow, and a third time we hear that cry 
of mournful supplication : " my Father, if it be pos- 
sible, let this cup pass from me." Cold though it was, 
the sweat oozed from every pore, and fell, like clotted 
blood, to the ground. Whatever the occasion of this 
extraordinary suffering, its nature was spiritual ; for 
there was no violence, no torture, no laceration of the 
person by cruel hands. It was the solitary wo of the 
soul within ; yet was it so intense, that an angel from 
heaven came to minister to the fainting strength of that 
pale and prostrate form. Presently an armed band 
make their appearance, lay hands upon him, bind him., 
and lead him away. Hurried through the mockeries 
of trial, He, who, a little before, was in an agony of 
spirit, now, in extremity of torture, hangs upon the 
cross. Death closes the scene. The sun veils his face, 
and a great horror of darkness settles upon the earth. 
In another garden, not far distant, was a sepulchre, 
where that crucified body was laid. 

Who was that sufferer ? Why did he suffer ? We 
have not abruptly terminated or changed the topic of 
the preceding pages. Kemote in space as were these 
two enclosures, Eden and Gethsemanc, intimately re- 
lated are they in human history. 



92 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

There have been other sufferers and other sorrows, 
to which we bear no relation whatever, save through 
the sympathies of pity. But the sufferings of Gethsem- 
ane and Calvary have a world-wide relation. They are 
central facts in the long and wide history of humanity. 
Whether one is infected by sympathy with that sorrow, 
or whether he is thoroughly unmoved and skeptical con- 
cerning it, it stands in actual connection with all the 
preceding and subsequent events in the life of our race. 
Throughout Christendom, time is actually reckoned by 
its relations to the Being whom we have seen in the 
prostration of Gethsemane. The infidel who yester- 
day drew a note of hand in New York, Paris, or Frank- 
fort, appended to it certain figures which denoted that 
this was the year 1856, as computed from the advent 
of Jesus Christ. We found our chronology on that 
central event, and measure time before and after the 
birth of that Being who was nailed to the cross. 

The first thing to be observed in regard to this ex- 
traordinary personage, whoever he was — whatever the 
cause or the consequences of his sufferings — is, that his 
life was not an isolated event. It is connected with the 
whole structure of human history — with the life of man 
from the beginning, and with the life of man unto the 
end. 

Who was that sufferer? That form we have seen 
before. It is He who was born at Bethlehem ; himself 



PROPHECY. 93 

in the lowliest penury^ yet signal-stars and angelic cho- 
ruses heralding and gracing his advent. It is he who 
was promised to the fallen pair in Eden, the seed of the 
woman who was to bruise tlie serpent's head. It is he 
who was foretold as about to dwell in the tents of Shem, 
enlarging them above the glory of Japhet. It is he 
concerning whom it was said to Abraham, beneath the 
numberless stars of the eastern heavens, '' In him shall 
all the families of the earth be blessed." It is he of 
whom the patriarch Jacob did speak, when, like the dy- 
ing swan, he broke into one and only strain of prophetic 
song : " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, until 
the Shiloh, the Peacemaker, shall come, whom all the 
nations should obey." He it is concerning whom Ba- 
laam, the seer of Edom, with most reluctant testimony, 
was compelled to predict as the Star and the Ruler who 
should come forth from Jacob. The same of whom 
Moses spake as the Prophet whom the Lord God 
should raise up unto whom the world should hearken. 
It is he of whom David wrote in the Psalms, calling 
him Lord, and King, the Son of God, the Christ, the 
anointed one, and the Priest — now waking the echoes 
of the mount of Olives, as with jubilant songs he de- 
scribed the splendors of his imperial reign, and the glo- 
ries of his triumphant and universal dominion — and 
now again, with plaintive measure, as with all minute- 
ness he rehearsed his humiliations and sufferings, his 



94 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

betrayal by a false friend, the parting of liis garments 
by lot, the piercing of his hands and feet, the pouring 
out of his soul like water, the entombment of his body, 
and its resurrection while yet uncorrupted by decay. 
It is he of whom Isaiah spake, as with lips touched with 
fire from heaven, and wrote with a pen dipped in the 
glories of the skies, as the Deliverer, the Saviour, the 
Redeemer, the tried and sure corner-stone, Emmanuel, 
the Prince of Peace, the renovator of the world, the 
isles waiting for his law ; a child to be born, yet bear- 
ing the name of the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the 
MIGHTY God, the everlasting Father. It is he of 
whom Ezekiel wrote, by the river Chebar, as the Glory 
of God, by whom the earth was to be made to shine. 
It is he of whom Daniel spake, as the Prince, the Mes- 
siah, who was to be cut off, but not for himself, that he 
might make reconciliation for iniquity, and bring in 
everlasting righteousness. Amos the herdsman foretold 
his coming as a Deliverer, and Micah rejoiced in his 
advent. Zechariah describes his royal Priesthood ; 
Haggai anticipates his footsteps as the glory of the 
second temple, the Lord our righteousness ; and Mala- 
chi, prolonging the notes of this whole choir of proph- 
ecy, bids the world believe that the Messenger of the 
covenant is nigh at hand, and the Sun of Righteousness 
is soon to rise upon the benighted earth. 

All the pregnant and gcrminant prophecies of Scrip- 



NO AFTER-THOUGHT. 95 

ture relate to that Being whose form we have seen in 
the garden of Sorrow. The long procession of the cen- 
turies had been pointing to him. His precursors sum- 
mon the world to make ready for his approach. Wlien 
he was born, there was heard a company of angels chant- 
ing in the sky: '^ Glory to God in the highest, peace 
on earth, good will to man." When he spake unto 
men, he claimed to be the very being whom prophecy 
had promised, and Nature obeyed him as her Lord. 
He challenged the faith of the world, when he styled 
himself the way, the truth, and the life, predicting his 
own lifting up upon the cross as the appointed method 
of drawing all men unto himself. 

Plainly, the historic events which occurred in and 
about Jerusalem eighteen hundred years ago, were not 
unanticipated accidents. The life of Christ was a pre- 
pared and foretold certainty. A cheering fact is this 
with which to begin — the assured conviction that it was 
God's intention to redeem and restore our fallen race. 
The first probation of human nature issuing in disappoint- 
ment and disaster, a second was prepared under new 
and peculiar auspices. Man unable to recover himself, 
God has undertaken that recovery by his own wisdom 
and power. God and not man is the author of redemp- 
tion. Nor was this an after-thought — a newly-devised 
expedient — resorted to as a remedy to an unexpected 
mischief. It was the eternal purpose of God before 



96 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

the foundations of the earth were laid. He has him- 
self instructed us that the redemption of man, tran- 
scending his creation, was the object about which all 
the affairs of time were to revolve. Man's apostacy 
was not a sudden surprise to Him before whose omnis- 
cience lay all contingencies and possibilities. There- 
fore the race of man was not extinguished when sin en- 
tered. The earth was not swept away, like a lost star, 
and another spoken into being to fill its place. The 
life of humanity was not abruptly terminated. The 
race was spared. Reprieve was granted, and the pur- 
poses of redemption begin their wonderful develop- 
ments. So was it in the wisdom of God that this 
method of human restoration was not revealed in its 
completeness on its first announcement. As great 
growths of great forests are included in the small 
germ of the parent-seed, so are all the hopes and pros- 
pects of restoration which now gladden the world the 
development of that one promise which was made to 
the first man, after the first sin. When he passed out 
of Eden he did not pass into despair. A new ele- 
ment entered into his existence — unknown in inno- 
cence, unknown in the first consciousness of shame 
— the promised mercy of his offended Maker. That 
mercy has been revealed in fuller measure — till now 
the gospel of our Lord has disclosed it in all its am- 
plitude. These are tidings of groat joy to our fallen 



SECOND PROBATION. 97 

race. Wearied, disabled, afflicted, in all forms and 
stages of its diversified life, the nature of man is des- 
tined to be restored. God is doing and will do for 
man wliat man never could do for himself. Plain 
enough, the fulcrum and the power of that mighty lev- 
erage which is to lift up our fallen race must be out- 
side of the race itself. That power is the love of God. 
If one has ever allowed himself to think hardly of 
his Maker ; if ever he was bewildered and troubled by 
reason of the woes, the sins, and the sufferings of the 
world, as if he were in doubt whether the goodness of 
God ever could be vindicated in permitting the earth 
to be blighted and cursed by sin as it is ; remember 
that that fact does not describe nor exhaust the world's 
history — that was not the end of the world's life — and 
man was not deserted and abandoned in his utmost 
need. The world is not always to be as it was — or as 
it is now. The issue of the second probation, through 
which our race is now passing, will not be a failure. 
There is a way in which all the evils of transgression 
may be amply and /or ever remedied. Be not faithless 
but believing while we treat of tlie mode in which 
every man may be delivered from all the power and 
proneness of sin — all the disabilities and entailments 
of sin — and ultimately from all the consequences of 
sin. The promises of the gospel relate to a better con- 
dition than man ever know in his innocence. IIi<ih as 



98 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

i 

was his original position, deep as was his fall, his re- i 
covery by the grace of the Redeemer will exalt him 

and confirm him in a state far above that which he en- | 
joyed in sinless Paradise. He shall be freely forgiven 

— his sins shall not be remembered against him, and | 

again he shall walk with God in joyful fellowship. ; 

The foremost feature of the second probation on \ 

which man was placed is that his well-being is not : 

made to depend on mere obedience to divine law. Sin- | 

less obedience was the nature and description of the i 
first trial of our race. But never again is it made the 
sole hope and dependence of man. Our probation 

turns wholly on the treatment which we bestow upon i 
the means of relief, and the promises of mercy. It is 

our conduct in reference to the method of redemption i 

which is to decide and determine our character and j 

condition. It is mercy — in the strict sense of that j 

term, as distinguished from mere benevolence — dis- I 

pensing gratuity to unworthiness — which presides ^ 

over the second, chief, and last stage of human pro- i 

bation. Not that the law of God is abrogated or mod- ) 

ified in one jot or tittle ; but in this regard we are j 

•i 

not under law ; our eternal salvation does not depend ; 

upon its perfect obedience ; but we are under grace — .: 

inasmuch as a method of forgiveness and restoration ; 

is revealed for those who are defective and disobedi- ■ 

I 

cut. We are not left to our obedience that we may be j 



NEW CONDITIONS. 99 

justified ; but we are to obey, because we are justified. 
This is the first general description of that probation- 
ary state, on which we, in common with our race, are 
now placed. To this fact attention is directed thus 
early that we may understand that no revelation of 
mere law, in whatever form that revelation is made, 
whether in specific statutes or in a living model, in a 
v/ritten law or a faultless example, will ever meet 
the necessities of our fallen nature. It was not owing 
to any deficiency of knovdedge in respect to the rule 
of duty, that the failure of man was to be ascribed, on 
his first trial, uj)on principles of obedience ; it is not 
because the statutes of God's realm have been imper- 
fectly understood that man has ever since shown him- 
self incapable of self-restoration ; the mere repetition 
of law, therefore, in whatever form, is but renewing 
the probation to which our nature was subjected at the 
beginning, and proclaiming anew those defects which 
have already been made sufficiently evident. Some 
new terms, new conditions, new helps, new motives, 
new powers, are needed ; and these, as we shall see, 
belong to that new stage and state through Avhich 
our blighted nature is passing, under the auspices of 
the Redeemer. 

Believing that the gospel of Christ accomplishes 
man's restoration, not arbitrarily, but by means of its 
moral adaptation to our nature and circumstances, wo 



100 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

are to study that adaptation, and inquire more into the 
character of that sufferer, whose every act, in the gar- 
den and on the cross, appears in some manner to be 
related to the recovery of our fallen race. 

Who was that sufferer ? We are not left to draw 
our opinions concerning him from what we behold in 
this scene of agony alone. This is only one incident 
in his life, the whole of which is described to our be- 
lief in the inspired annals. We are to gather all the 
facts which are revealed concerning him from the be- 
ginning to the end of the sacred volume, and, combining 
them together, adding nothing, omitting nothing, we are 
to learn what qualities met in his person, fitting him to 
be the Redeemer and Restorer of man. 

Never did another such Being walk upon this earth. 
He is without a compeer, a precedent, or a paral- 
lel. We have rehearsed some of the remarkable names 
and titles which he bears. No other being was ever 
predicted for so long a time, or witli such a stress 
and import of expectation. He was a man, else he 
could not suffer at all. He was something more than 
man, else his sufferings could not avail for man's recov- 
ery ; and it is his sufferings and death, as we shall see, 
which in some way are the essential means of human 
redemption. He was a man, that he might partake of 
that nature which was to be restored ; he was more than 
a maUj that in him might be found that power of restora- 



THE GOD-MAN. 101 

tion whicli was not in man at all. He had the body of a 
man, else he could not have passed under death ; he had 
a divine power allied therewith, else he could not show 
how that very body should be raised and glorified be- 
yond all pains and humiliations. A man himself, that 
he might sympathize with the nature he would relieve — 
sharing in its utmost depressions and privations : more 
than a man, that he might lift up that nature to his o^vn 
level. An eye had he that could weep in pity ; a hand 
that could wipe tears away. A man, innocent of sin, 
for, had he shared in guilt, he had been disqualified as 
a helper : more than a man, else he had no power to 
absolve from sin. Of our race, and yet above it : with 
man, and yet superior to man : made lower than the 
angels, that he by the grace of God should taste death 
for every man ; yet higher far than all the angels, that 
he might crown man at last with glory and honor. 
Made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merci- 
ful and faithfal high-priest in things pertaining to God, 
making reconciliation for the sins of the people ; yet 
greater and higher than man ever can be, that he might 
vindicate the honor of law, and uphold the majesty of 
supreme dominion. He was human — he ivas divine. 
In his own person was the tangential point between 
the two natures which sin had sundered. Immediately 
related was he to the parties between whom reconcilia- 
tion needs to be efiected. He shared the nature of 



102 THE GARDEN OF GETKSEMANE. 

botli. He was the mediator between God and man — 
man's advocate, priest, intercessor, representative, and 
God's image and representative too. He was tlie God- 
man. 

As at the beginning God and man were associated 
in perfect fellowship, even as the sky and the earth 
seem to touch in the morning along the horizon — so, 
in the person of Jesus Christ, divinity and humanity 
are actually blended together — the one condescending 
in its humiliation, the other lifted up in its exaltation ; 
prefiguring to our faith that time which is to come when 
our depressed, wounded, and afiiicted nature shall rise 
again even to a celestial promotion. 

Concerning the possibilities and modes of such a 
union of qualities in the Redeemer, we stop not to phi- 
losophize. We enter upon no analysis of that conjunc- 
tion of distinct natures which existed in the one Being 
who is our Saviour. We have read and heard of many 
learned terms which pretend to explain it, but prefer 
the simple facts of inspired revelation — knowing full 
well that a Being uniting such distinct and dissimilar 
properties in himself, as he is beyond the sphere of 
our experience, must be as yet beyond the range of 
our comprehension. Before this great mystery of god- 
liness we bow with a veiled face and wondering eye, 
even as do the angels : " God manifest in the flesh, 
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto 



INNOCENCE IN AGONY. 103 

tlie Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into 
glory." 

What and why did he suffer ! God forbid that upon 
such a theme our folly should intrude with the sugges- 
tion of reasons above what is written. One thing is 
patent and palpable throughout the whole of the Scrip- 
tures. The sufferings of Christ are revealed as in 
some manner the reason, in view of which the human 
race is redeemed. The agonies of the Redeemer in 
Gethsemane and on Calvary are not mere incidents and 
appendages to something else more important. It is 
by Christ's suffering for sins that we, in some manner, 
are delivered from sin. It is by his death that we are 
made to live. His teachings were of superhuman wis- 
dom and authority ; his example was of spotless perfec- 
tion ; but it is his bitter passion, his tasting of death, his 
cross, which are everywhere set forth — whether in the 
Old Testament, in the form of the bleeding lamb, or in 
the New Testament, in the form of didactic statement 
— as the one reason and method of man's restoration. 

Sin always entails suffering. We can not conceive 
of it without its involving consequences sad and pain- 
ful. Those consequences are in some manner to be dis- 
posed of. Christ himself was without sin. Yet he was 
a sufferer. That form which lies on the ground in the 
garden is not broken-hearted Penitence seeking out soli- 
tude to weep, and mourn, and pray. It is Innocence, 



104 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

yet innocence in agony. A deep mystery tliis in the 
righteous government of God. The solution, baffling 
our wisdom, God has himself revealed it unto us. He 
who himself knew no sin, was made sin for us. Those 
sufferings were of a vicarious nature ; and in some way 
Christ delivers us from suffering, by assuming suffering 
himself. '• He hath borne our griefs and carried our 
sorrows ; he was wounded for our transgressions, he 
was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our 
peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed." 
After some manner the sufferings of Innocence availed 
for the redemption of guilt. The sin which was com- 
mitted in the garden of Eden, and which had been 
rolling its accumulated woes for ages, was, by some 
process, related to all the suffering which was endured 
in Gethsemane and upon the cross. We are to inquire 
what power there was in that vicarious endurance to 
meet the necessities of man's condition, accomplishing 
in his behalf what no recuperative power of his own 
could promise. 

The way to the heavenly paradise, toward which we 
have turned our faces in hope, is not through the gar- 
den of Eden, for all traces of it are lost to the world, 
so that man need not delude himself with travelling 
afar to renew it ; but it doth lie directly through tlie 
garden of Gethsemane. That enclosure, where the 
Redeemer sorrowed and suffered, we must enter. Wo 



SORROW AND HOPE. 105 

must pass under the gloomy shadow of that great ago- 
ny. We must stand and see the sufferer in his mortal 
anguish. We must mingle with the group before his 
cross. We must look upon the Lamb of God, who 
taketh away the sin of the world. Our path leads 
through the very sepulchre where the body of Jesus 
was laid. With gratitude, faith, hope, penitence, let 
us approach the scene. Fear not to enter the garden 
of Sorrow. Shrink not f?o^ii looking upon the cross. 
Start not back from the sepulchre. There are no ruf- 
fian bands to arrest — no tragic crucifixion to torture — 
no terrors of death to get hold of us ; for, wonder of 
wonders, we, even we, can think of sin, and death, and 
the grave, with a strange calmness : for peace comes 
with penitence, and hope shines through all the tears 
of conscious unworthincss and helplessness. Our Great 
Helper, Deliverer, Eestorer, says to all who will tvast 

m him. " T3ecause I live, ve shall Tve q1?o/' 

^ 5* 



HE A SON FOR EEMISSTON, 

We see sun, moon, and stars, and rejoice in their 
light, long before we have any conception of scientific 
astronomy. We breathe the pure and tonic air before 
we know how to analyze its composition. Our hearts 
catch the gladness of the fact that God designs to re- 
docin the human race, before we are fully acquainted 
with the natare and rtjlaiiouii; or that method b}' wnich 
redemption is accomplished. 

Beholding that wonderful person, in agony and death, 
on whom all the rays of prophecy converge, and to 
whom Hope was ever pointing as the Restorer of man, 
the inquiry is prompted how were those sufferings re- 
lated to human redemption. 

The first great necessity in the recovery of man is to 
assure him of some method by which he may be ex- 
empted from all the penalties incurred by transgression. 



JUSTICE. 107 

Vain is it to attempt reformations until j'cason and con- 
science are certified of the fact that sins already com- 
mitted may be forgiven ; and that we are placed upon 
an immunity from retribution where remedial agencies 
may resuscitate our disabled nature. Sin must, in some 
manner, be disposed of; and we are confident that the 
method actually proclaimed is capable of being so stated 
as to commend itself to every man's conscience in the 
sight of God. The atonement is not a mystery in such 
a sense as to be above our comprehension. Once it was 
hid from ages and generations, but now it is revealed. 
Sages wondered what was the import of the predictions 
which they uttered concerning the Christ, to whom, but 
not to us, the solution was denied. Mysteries, indeed, 
are connected with all truth, even the simplest — travel 
in any direction, we reach the ocean sooner or later — 
but the mode which God has revealed by which to just- 
ify the guilty is not ambiguous or enigmatical, since it 
demands the intelligent assent and faith of childhood. 

In one of the royal galleries of Paris there is a stri- 
king picture, the moral of which is irresistible. The 
prominent figure is that of Justice — a female form 
seated on her throne, a radiant star upon her brow, a 
sword in one hand, and the other holding her syml)oli- 
cal scales, resting on the head of a huge lion, who, with 
keenest vigilance, keeps watch at the side of his mis- 



108 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

tress. Over this portion of the picture is an air of 
severity and firmness^ softened by celestial benignity. 
In the foreground is a group, consisting of a husband- 
man (the unharnessed plough is at his side), in the soft- 
est sleep of night. Upon his breast reposes the head 
of his wife, and in her arms lies their slumbering infant, 
while one hand of the mother, in unconscious security, 
rests on the knee of enthroned Justice. A great truth 
is admirably illustrated by the artist — security, peace, 
and happiness, beneath the protection of benignant law. 
So prone are we to associate stern and unlovely quali- 
ties with law and justice, that we must pause ere we 
proceed, disabuse our minds of all such falsities, and 
direct them, m an impartial judgment, to this very 
point — the Dcnevolence of Grod as exhibited in his most 
holy law. 

W e begin by i'enearsing ^ome oi the simplest rudS- 
ments of religion. 

We live under the moral government of God. Be- 
cause he is a Spirit, he is not to be idealized out of his 
supremacy. Spirit is something more than light, or 
air, or motion, or perfume, or unthinking energy, some- 
times called INature. 

Made in the divine image, we are controlled, not by 
mechanical laws, neither by caprice, but by statutes 
addressed to our intelligence and affections. The law 



BENEVOLENCE OF LAW. 109 

wliicli God lias revealed, requiring us to love liim su- 
premely and our fellow-men as we love ourselves, is 
tlie transcript of his own nature, and the rule of devel- 
opment for our OAVii. Less he could not require, with- 
out departing from his own benevolence, and doing an 
injury to his own offspring. This revelation, moreover, 
assumes the form of law. It is enforced by means of 
adequate motives. Among these is the penalty attached 
to disobedience. A law without penalty loses its dis- 
tinctive character, and assumes that of mere opinion or 
counsel. The remission of penalties, in all instances^ 
is equivalent to the abrogation of law itself. A statute, 
however excellent its requisitions, which promises im- 
punity to all who fail to observe it, loses its character 
as law^ and promulgates its own imbecility and impo- 
tence. 

If, now, without any compensatory reason, it were 
announced from the vault of heaven that the law of God 
was repealed, or that no sin would ever come under 
judicial notice, clouds and darkness would gather over 
our heads, and terror would reign, for this would be 
equivalent to the proclamation that Malevolence had 
usurped the throne of Love, and sin, uninterdicted and 
unbridled, would reign and rage through the wreck and 
ruin of the world! No truth can be more clear or 
stable than this, that the justice of God, as exhilntcd 
in his most holy law, is the kind and conservative 



110 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

power wliich looks to tlic protection and blessedness 
of tlie universe. 

If, then, the law of God is holy, just, and good, and 
the benevolence of God is pledged to maintain it, wo 
are set to tlie solution of a great problem : How may 
its penalties be remitted, and the guilty restored to a 
position such as would have been theirs had they never 
sinned ? 

The question is not how penalty may be remitted in 
a few instances, now and then, here and there, in view 
of special reasons ; but how it may be suspended uni- 
versally, without exception and without reserve. How 
may the remission of sin and penalty be divulged just as 
widely as the law itself, and the moral force and au- 
thority of that law be unimpaired ? 

To expatiate on the mercy of God is but an evasion 
of the problem, since the inquiry is, how may that mercy 
be applied ? It is the glory of heaven and the joy of 
tlie whole earth that the throne is occupied by Infinite 
Love. Washington was merciful ; yet he signed the 
death-warrant of Andre. Indeed, it is well authenti- 
cated that such was the pity of his noble heart on that 
occasion, that his tears fell upon the words which he 
wrote. That judge was merciful who, on the occasion 
of pronouncing sentence of death on a culprit convicted 
of wilful murder, was so overpowered by the tender 
emotions of his heart, that he involuntarily rose, and, 



DIVINE BENIGNITY. Ill 

'♦vitli streaming eyes, cominended the miserable man to 
God in fervent prayer. 

Wo stand not in doubt concerning the mercy of our 
Maker ; we ask not for further proofs of its existence ; 
neither can any increase be made to that which is al- 
ready beyond measurement. We have sometimes feared 
that many of the objections which have been urged 
against the atonement have proceeded from the great 
misconception that it was designed to propitiate the 
Almighty, and accomplish some change in his feelings 
toward the guilty. It is a sufficient reply to all such 
misapprehensions, that the atonement is the effect and 
not the cause of divine mercy. '' God so loved the 
world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoso- 
ever believeth on him should not perish, but have ever- 
lasting life." The affrighted imagination may conceive 
of heathen deities as appeased and propitiated by sacri- 
fices ; but the Love which originated the gospel, ma- 
king expression of itself in the act of redemption, can in 
no sense be regarded as the result and product of that 
achievement. It is not the absence of benignant quali- 
ties which restrains an honored magistrate from releas- 
ing every criminal convicted of pillage and bloodshed. 
Compassionate though he be, he is restrained from ma- 
king clemency the general law — seeing that the inva- 
riable exercise of the pardoning power would be synony- 
mous with lawlessness. The goodness of God is not 



112 THE GARDEN OF GETIISEMANE. 

weak sentimentality, nor can it weaken tlie force of 
that law wMcli is the reflection of his blessedness and 
the security of our own ; and to proclaim, simultane- 
ously with the requirements of his own legislation, 
free and unlimited impunity for all sins past, present, 
and future, would be equivalent to the annulling of the 
law itself. 

It is over this obscure and inexplicable problem that 
light from heaven has been poured in abundance. The 
great mystery has been solved. The wonders of crea- 
tion fade into dimness in comparison with the miracle 
of redemption. The pallid lijDs of Despair may sing 
for joy. The very rocks and trees are invoked to 
break forth into music because of this grand discovery. 
Grod has revealed a Avay by which he may be just — 
maintaining the full force and sanctity of his law — and 
yet justify all men that believe — treating them as 
though they had not sinned at all : '' Being justified 
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in 
Christ Jesus ; whom God hath set forth to be a propi 
tiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righ- 
teousness for the remission of sins that are past, through 
the forbearance of God." 

Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the 
import of particular words in this pregnant passage, 
there can be no discrepancy as to the historic fact that 
the death of Jesus Christ is the reason in view of* 



CHRIST MORE THAN LAW. 113 

which man receives remission of sin, and exemption 
from merited penalty. 

That reason is something more than the perfection 
of Christ's character, as a model for human imita- 
tion, or the excellency of his doctrines as the world's 
Teacher, for these offices of the Eedeemer do not fur- 
nish any solution of that problem which has been pre- 
sented by the exigences of man's condition. The life 
of Christ as a mere example of obedience is only an- 
other and better revelation of law. It is the law made 
manifest in a living form, instead of characters graven 
on stone or inscribed on parchment. It is the law per- 
sonified, the law exemplified, the law fulfilled. Still it 
is the law ; and if Christ be nothing more than man's 
exemplar and teacher, then are we to look to law for 
our justification — the old probation is repeated and 
the mystery already propounded remains unsolved. 
How can any new rule of duty avail for the remission 
of sins that are past ? On condition that we copy it 
and conform to it hereafter ? Then you impose a con- 
dition in view of which we are to be saved ; and that 
condition is conformity to impersonated law, and you 
take away from such as are conscious of defection the 
gratuity of the gospel. If the Sufibrer was merely 
man's teacher and model, then he could avail for man's 
advantage only as his teachings were obeyed and his 
example followed. But what if that conformity bo 



114 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

wholly vrantirg? You have not once hinted at the 
real necessity of guilt, nor alluded as yet to that mo- 
mentous inquiry which the heart aches to solve. How 
mercy may be applied to a fallen world without im- 
pairing the force of that law which is the product and 
expression of infinite love. Here is a thief upon the 
cross ; in the very act of dying he begins to pray. 
Will it give hope and comfort to conscious guilt to 
hold up to his glazed and rayless eye the model of per- 
fect goodness ? 

Go into the heart of heathenism and find the thought- 
ful man who is self-impeached of defect, and drawing 
nigh to the close of life with manifold misgivings. In- 
form him of the one man who obeyed the Divine law to 
its last letter. Borrow the fervor of inspiration in de- 
scribing the glory of this faultless model ; w^ill it light 
one smile on the wan cheek of conscious guilt, or kindle 
hope in his soul, when past sins rise up around him like 
sheeted spectres ? Man is already confounded and dis- 
tressed because of his infractions of law, and you carry 
his ideas of law higher and higher, even up to infinite 
perfection. Struggling with the sense of sin and de- 
merit, you only instruct him the more concerning the 
capacities of his nature, and bid him look at the living 
impersonation of law. Every glance at that faultless 
model convicts him, and wakes into agony the con- 
sciousness of the immense interval which separates him 



A SUBSTITUTED REASON. 115 

from perfection. No glad tidings are here: nor can 
Ijaw, in any form of revelation, inform us liow tliG 
transgression of law can be forgiven. 

The glorious gospel of the blessed God is far in ad- 
vance of all revelation of law and duty. Christ, as a 
propitiation for sin, is distinct from Christ as an exam- 
ple. Redemption through his blood is more than teach- 
ing by his words. Eemission of sins that are past is 
different from exemption from sin for time to come. 

Presumption is it to intrude here beyond what God 
has revealed, but that which he himself has disclosed is 
to be received with gladness. The death of Jesus 
Christ, after some manner, presents a reason because 
of which the penalties of law may be remitted while 
the great ends and objects of law are secured. It is 
a grand moral expedient substituted in the place of 
merited penalty, which, forall motives and impressions, 
answers even better than the penalty itself the great pur- 
pose of law, while mercy has its ample application to 
the lawless. Talk not of the mysteries of this redemp- 
tion, for without it we are involved in greater myste- 
ries still. Pervert not its statement. It is love su- 
preme and infinite, the author of law, manifesting itself 
in a human form, and in its own voluntary endurances 
presenting to the human conscience an adequate rea- 
son, in view of which a sinful race may be acquitted 
and justified. Who is he that condemneth? It is 



116 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

Christ that died. Remission of sin is in view of a 
compensatory reason, and that reason is liiglier and 
ampler than any other that can be conceived of. It is 
the plea which inspiration has put upon the tremulous 
lips of guilt. Christ has died. Manifold speculations 
there may be as to the precise nature of those suffer- 
ings which were endured by our Redeemer, but rational 
faith avoiding those human appendages which confuse 
and mislead, is satisfied with this revealed fact, that by 
the offering up of himself the Lamb of God was the one 
adequate reason in view of which sins that are past 
may be remitted, remitted freely and remitted for ever. 
The gospel does not declare our innocence : but it is 
God's method of treating men as though they were in- 
nocent, justifying the guilty when justification by the 
law was impossible. 

Here is accomplished the first great requisite of 
man's recovery. He is reinstated in such a position 
that reformatory agencies may be applied to his resto- 
ration. The method has been tested by experience and 
found to execute all which it promises. The reason of 
pardon satisfies the human conscience, and imparts a 
profound and rational peace. This is the sign and seal 
of its celestial origin. If the Highest Power in the 
universe acquits, in view of compensatory considera- 
tions of its own, what occasion for fear remains ? If 
God justifies, there is none to condemn. The resting- 



PEACE IN BELIEVING. 117 

place of faith is high and strong — eternal Rock. Sen- 
sible of his own demerits, man is taught the strain of 
exultation — "I am persuaded that neither life nor 
death, nor things present, nor things to come, nor 
height nor depth, nor any other creature, is able to 
separate me from the love of God which is in Christ 
Jesus my Lord." 

Hope dawns on the gloom of guilt, and the soul 
justified by faith has peace. Before, a disquieted 
conscience occasioned constant foreboding and look- 
ing for of judgment ; but now " peace in believing" 
ensues oft as the plea is confided in — Christ has 
died. Like the troubled sea that can not rest, cast- 
ing up mire and dirt, is the soul when harassed by 
the sense of unforgiven sin : but when faith intelli- 
gently apprehends the gospel, the conscience respond- 
ing to that reason which Christ has interposed, there is 
a great calm. How perfectly this scriptural imagery 
corresponds to the experience of thousands. You have 
stood by the side of the sea when its surges were lashed 
into foam by the wing of the storm — when the terrific 
blast drowned your puny voice as deep called unto deep 
at the noise of God's water-spouts, and the wild birds 
screamed their melancholy cry, for they could not 
rest, and weeds and wrecks came drifting to the shore, 
and the deep, black, and turbid waves were the image 
of all which was terrible : but the wind went down, 



118 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

tlie surges fell, the storm passed off, and a sudden sun- 
gleam broke over the changed scene, and at length the 
sea became as a molten looking-glass, through whose 
translucent waters you could see the fish, the pebble, 
and the plant, and birds of calm, with their soft and 
silver plumage sat and swung on the pliant wave. Not 
less striking is the transition in the human soul from 
the stormy agitation which often accr^mpanies conscious 
demerit to the peace which follows a cordial acceptance 
of the gospel gratuity. 

The mode in which the love of God has made ex- 
pression of itself proves and evidences itself by the 
effects which it produces. We need not toil and travel 
far to discover illustrations of the fact that a belief in 
that method which God has revealed as a substitute 
for judicial retribution has resulted in deep and perma- 
nent tranquillity. Men who can not be suspected of cre- 
dulity, or weakness, or illusion, have tried it with uni- 
form results. If anything can be established by human 
testimony, it is the fact that faith in Jesus Ghrist, in 
distinction from all personal merit of our own, is ca- 
pable of imparting a consolation to the quickened con- 
sciousness of man such as nothing else can inspire. 

One of the greatest of living scholars,* writing to his 
bosom-friend, thus describes a change which occurred 
in his long-agitated and tempest-tossed soul : '^ Tlxe 

^ Tholiick. 



SIN FORGIVEN. 119 

overbearing spirit in me is humbled, the lioart of stone 
IS Dioken. i can truly say that i am nothing great in 
my own eyes, i am the most unworthy among the chil- 
dren of men. 1 am stiil very much cast down, but I 
can not tell you what a mild zephyr breathes upon my 
cheek in the midst of all my sadness. Sometimes when 
I sit alone, distressed with the thought of my guilt, a 
secret voice whispers, ' God is thy friend,' At such 
hours a peaceful joy, a heavenly delight, unknown till 
now, fills my soul, and I must weep much and long. 
In every calm I had before there was a restlessness at 
the bottom, but now my restlessness bespeaks a calm. 
My whole inward life is like a summer evening when 
the sun is just setting, i knovj- not whether I am 
already regeneratea, but this 1 know, it is something 
unspeakably blissful to be a true believer in Christ. 
By means of the insight into my misery and corrup- 
tion, I seem to have obtained permission to raise at 
times, for a moment, the curtain of a great sanctuary. 
After such a glimpse my soul is filled with so joyous a 
trembling that I would be willing to wait patiently be- 
fore the curtain for years, after having once seen the 
glories behind." 

This is not mysticism, neither is it illusion. The 
Lamb of God taketh away the sin of the world. 
Human theories, like a mist before the sun, may obstruct 
and becloud the light of tliis great fact ; but received 



120 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

as a fact, with humble faith, it inspires gratitude, diffu- 
ses peace, and imparts strong consolation. Here is a 
reason out of ourselves — higher, stronger than our- 
selves — which is as an anchor to the soul. Con- 
demned, by the written law, condemned by his own con- 
science, man places his hand on the cross of Christ and 
repeats the great words of his faith : " Being justified 
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in 
Christ Jesus, ivhom God hath set forth to be a pro- 
pitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his 
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, 
through the forbearance of God.''^ The pillars of 
heaven may tremble, but he who trusts in God's mode 
of justifying the guilty shall nQ^Qv be afraid. 



Ei ^i.; ■■ . 

Vil. 

HUMAN NATURE liESUSClTATKD. 

Rectified in our relations to law and government, 
we are open now and accessible to all the kind and 
potent influences by which our own natures may be 
renovated and restored. 

Before proceeding to treat of those agencies which 
are adapted to work the greatest of changes in our will 
and affections, let us comfort ourselves with some con- 
ception of the entireness, freeness, and fullness, of that 
exemption which is secured to us by the mediation of 
Jesus Christ. We do not mean that the condition of 
the human race is necessarily better since Christ died ; 
that all mankind are, by that act of their Redeemer, 
saved, whether they will it or not — for redemption de- 
mands our credence and our trust — but we mean that, 
on those conditions of simple faith and acceptance, the 
act of Christ completely restores and reinstates in a 
conclition of ultimate immunity from all evil. 



122 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

There is no danger of extravagance or exaggeration 
in the statement of our faith on this topic ; for no ex- 
pression and no conception of the completeness of man's 
forgiveness can surpass the actual language of God's 
Word. It would seem to be enough, when we are as- 
sured that the act of Christ avails in our behalf to such 
a degree, that, in God's regard, and God's treatment 
of us, we are as if we never n.ad sinned at all. Our 
relations to lu\\^, lo penalty, to condemnation, become 
as these would be if the law never had been, violated, 
the penalty never incurred, and the condemnation never 
had been merited. In the forbearance, wisdom, and 
love of God, the way is disclosed by which the Supreme 
Ruler of the universe may deal with us as he dealt with 
man in his original and glorious innocence — smiling on 
him, blessing him, having communion with him ; when 
that smile had no cloud, that blessing no reserve, and 
that communion no obstruction. If this does not satisfy 
us, we are bidden to receive another assurance, higher 
and greater still. Our relations to the Ruling Power 
are so completely rectilied by the act of Christ, that, 
by faith in him, we are treated as if we were in Christ's 
own stead, in actual possession of Christ's own perfec- 
tion. The actual transfer of moral qualities, of guilt 
and of holiness, from one person to another — inter- 
changing one with another — is oeyoncl our conception 
or belief. Our guilt never ''.an be trausicrred to Jesus 



I 



TREATED AS RIGHTEOUS. 123 

Christ in such a sense that he is guilty, nor his holiness 
be transferred to us in such a sense that we are holy 
as he. 

But, in the treatment which we receive from the Be- 
ing who rules the world, we are promised exemptions 
and blessings such as would have been ours had we 
always been as holy and harmless as the Son of God. 
The "righteousness" of Christ is " i7?iputed^^ to us, in 
this sense — that, in the abundance of his mercy, we are 
to be treated as if we were righteous as Jesus Christ. 
Let there be no reserve in our faith in this matter. 
Let no fear nor shame prevent us from rising to the 
" height of this great argument." If this were lan- 
guage written or spoken by man, in the exultations of 
excited hope, we might be incredulous as to its truth ; 
but the mouth of the Lord first uttered it, and the pen 
of the Holy Ghost first recorded it. The righteousness 
of God !— the righteousness of our Redeemer ! We to 
be regarded and treated as if this righteousness were 
our personal quality and property! — as if we were 
holy as God himself — holy as his spotless Son! The 
magnanimity of God is nothing less than this. When 
he describes the method of his fo^iveness, it is with an 
affluence of promise such as compares only with his 
own infinity. Not only does he forgive, but forgives 
freely. He forgives, and remembers not. He forgives, 
and blots out iniquity. He forgives even to the utter- 



124 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

most. He forgives exceeding abundantly, above all 
we can ask or think. We read not only of redemption, 
but oi plenteous redemption; not only of mercy, but of 
tender mercy ; not only of kindness, but of loving-Wiidi' 
ness ; and these repeated and multiplied beyond plural 
forms, into the " multitude of his loving-kindnesses." 
To read of grace sufficient for us — grace from the 
throne — were enough ; but this is amplified into " abun- 
dant" grace — " exceeding abundant" — " superabun- 
dant" — grace '^ immense" — grace "manifold" — the 
"riches of his grace" — the "exceeding riches of his 
grace" — the "riches of the glory of his grace." It 
would seem that, on that point, where fallen humanity 
needed " strong consolation," all the fullness of God 
were poured into the very language which assures us 
of the entire oblivion to which sins "that are pasV^ 
shall be consigned, and the entire rectification of the 
fallen in reference to judicial and retributive notice. 

Nor have we presented the full testimony of revela- 
tion on this point, till we are reminded that this act 
of the Redeemer is adequate to the restoration of the 
whole human race. Such are the views we entertain 
of the work of Christ, that, while we are constrained 
to believe that necessarily and arbitrarily it saves no 
man, in its adaptation it is abundantly equal to the 
salvation of all men. The language of Scripture in 
regard to this is very explicit : " He tasted death for 



FUI.LNESS AND FREENESS. 125 

every manP — ^' The Lamb of God taketh away the sin 
of the worldJ^ The gospel of the Redeemer is to be 
preached io every creature. It is to be sent forth into all 
the earth. Nowhere in the New Testament do we receive 
the impression that the expiation of Jesus Christ was 
adapted in its nature to the salvation only of a minor- 
ity. It is the human race upon which the blight of sin 
has fallen. The redemption we seek must be commen- 
surate with the ruin we deplore. Those who stand at 
the left hand of the Judge in the last day are con- 
demned because they believed not on the Son of God. 
It is the act of men in regard to the redemption of 
Jesus Christ which arbitrates their destiny in the clo- 
sing up of this peculiar and final probation of human 
nature. No other proof is wanting of the fact that for 
such the promises of the gospel were ample and ade- 
quate ; for who would impute to Sovereign Equity the 
judicial condemnation of any for rejecting a method of 
relief which for them was never designed, or equal ? "We 
find no limits to the fullness of that redemption which 
is by Jesus Christ, considered in its adaptation to the 
moral recovery of the human race. It is coextensive 
with the law of God, and that is universal. It super- 
abounds above the evil it would remedy, and that evil 
includes the entire species. The invitations connected 
with it are wide as the earth and broad as the sea ; the 
promises it proclaims boundless as the necessities of 



126 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

human kind. '^ All men" — '^ whosoever Trill" — " the 
world" — '^ every creature" — ''the whole world" — 
" all the earth" — " every nation" — these are some of 
the expressions through which inspired truth labors to 
expend itself in regard to the amplitude of the moral 
expedient by means of which men may be saved. 

The first requisite for man's recovery thus pro- 
vided for — even that he may be assured to a certainty 
that his past sins may be remitted, and he delivered 
from their penalty and punishment — the next requi- 
site is, that his disabled and perverted nature should 
itself be actually recovered and restored. It were not 
enough to inform us that there was a way in which, so 
far as law and government are concerned, man may be 
saved : we wish to know if there be any method or any 
power by which man himself is saved, changed, and 
reformed, in his own nature. Here we find the testi- 
mony of Scripture equally explicit, and the dealings of 
God distinguished by the same infinite generosity and 
magnanimity. The cross of Christ is not only the wis- 
dom of God, inasmuch as it discloses to us how God 
may be just, and yet justify them that believe ; but it is 
also the power of God unto salvation, inasmuch as it 
addresses the most potent motives in aid of regenera- 
ting man himself — converting his will, and reclaiming 
his lost afibctions. 



RELATIONS MANWARD. 127 

To convince ourselves how excellently the gospel of 
our Lord is adapted to meet this second necessity, let 
us recall some of the effects which followed apostacy 
from God. These were — shame; fear of God; repul- 
sion from God ; and an inflexible perversion of will 
and affection. We seek, then, a curative power by 
which these maladies of the soul itself may be healed — 
some panacea by which the moral ailments of our nature 
may be medicated. In vain is pardon proclaimed to 
penitence, and remission of sins to faith, if there be no 
method by which penitence and faith may be awakened, 
and man himself be lifted out of the depression into 
wliich he is fallen, to shine in the restored and bright- 
ened image of his Maker. 

Let us consider, then, how admirably adapted is the 
mediation of Jesus Christ to accomplish this indispen- 
sable service. The cross of Christ has relations both 
manward and God ward. While we believe that it was 
designed to adjust and rectify our relations to the Ru- 
ling Power, so that universal clemency may be exer- 
cised without detriment, we do not believe that this is 
the only design and effect of the redemption by the Son 
of God. We believe it to be God's own power for 
exciting hope, awakening confidence, enkindling love, 
and attracting an alienated soul back to faith, loyalty, 
innocence, and joy. 

Let us consider tjese in their order. Shame is the 



128 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

inseparable shadow of sin. There can be no recovery 
for man, even though pardon be proclaimed, so long as 
conscious shame drives him into any attempts to hide 
himself from his Maker. Confidence destroyed in the 
soul of man, that confidence toward God must be re- 
established. What disastrous efi'ects upon the soul 
itself have been entailed by the shame and distrust 
which guilt hath engendered ! It is a law of our na- 
ture that the emotions of the soul give complexion and 
character to all other beings and objects. Is the spirit 
within darkened and disturbed, "it makes a turmoil 
of a quiet world :" — 

" The fiends of his own bosom people air 
With kindred fiends, that hunt him to despair. 
Hates he his fellow 1 Self he makes the rate 
Of fellow-man, and cries, * 'Tis hate for hate !' " 

So in regard to God. The soul filled with distrust 
and shame, God is represented in images of terror. 
Fear is the ascendant emotion. How terrible God is 
made to appear to the ashamed and frightened spirit 
of man, is apparent in all the religions of heathenism, 
with their vain and frenzied attempts to propitiate 
offended power. Even in Christian lands, wherever 
the soul has not received the full light of the glorious 
gospel of God, it is tortured with the apprehension 
that we are objects of God's unmingled hatred. A 
troubled conscience involves an excited imagination, 



CONDESCENSION AND LOVE. 129 

and both togetlier invest the character of our Maker 
with forms of gloom and terror. The soul remembers 
God, and is troubled. It cherishes the belief that God 
hates us in all we are, and in all we do — in our plougli- 
ing and our reaping, in our merchandise and our 
homes ; and, until this progeny of shame be displaced 
by liope and confidence, never will the stricken nature 
of man be recovered. 

To accomplish this, God lays aside the insignia of 
his majesty, and approaches man in the form of utmost 
condescension. Not now does he come down as upon 
Sinai, riding upon the wings of the wind, and sending 
forth his lightnings from the angry clouds : he reveals 
liimself in a human form, and mingles among those he 
would restore in ways of sympathy, in words of ten- 
derness, and in deeds of love. He divests himself 
of every form and expression of terror by which man 
would be driven into more of fear and despair, and 
manifests himself in such a manner, that his creatures 
may no longer doubt and distrust his love. He has 
assured them that his love, even for those who have 
4nned against him, has never wearied and never been 
exhausted. He has pitied those who never have pitied 
themselves. Remembering that they were his offspring, 
made in his image, he has opened his fatherly heart 
that they might see how deep, how full, how strong, 
^as been his love for them. He has caused to be writ- 



130 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

ten in tins gospel of his grace the parable of the prodi- 
gal son, wherein the joyful father — weeping on the 
neck of his penitent boy, gazing upon his haggard face 
with ineffable pity, bathing and blessing his sore and 
broken heart with every expression of love and for- 
giveness — was designed to represent the feelings of 
His own infinite nature toward our guilt and shame. 
Oh, if every ray of hope which that one passage of the 
New Testament has kindled in the soul of the depressed 
and the fearful, could be retained and attached to the 
page where it is written, it would be illuminated so as 
no page was ever illuminated in gold by man's art ; it 
would shine as if there burned upon its surface the 
splendor of transfiguration ! 

These forms of approach, these voices of kindness, 
enkindle hope ; and hope, enkindled, leads man, step 
by step, to the full assurance that God loves him. Like 
the dawning of the morning does this belief break upon 
the long and fearful night of guilt and shame. God 
actually loves us. He loves us sincerely. Without 
reserve, without equivocation, in the infinite truthfulness 
of his magnanimous nature, he loves us. Notwithstand- 
ing our sins, he loves us ; in spite of our provocations 
and demerits, he loves us still : he loves us, so as no 
man ever loved ; he loves those who have shown them- 
selves his enemies — loves them unto self-denial — loves 
them unto suff'ering — loves tliem unto death! Now 



LOVE MORE POTENT THAN LAW. 131 

hope brightens like the morning star; the Sun rises 
with healing in his wings ; confidence takes the place 
of fear and distrust ; love ejecteth fear ; and hope, 
confidence, and love, draw the soul back to God and 
life. 

The power of condescension and kindness in over- 
coming shame, and exciting hope and confidence, is not 
all which is essential to the restoration of humanity. 
Man is to be made loyal and obedient again. That law 
of his being, and of God's universe, which requires him 
to love his Maker supremely and all beings most cor- 
dially, has never been relaxed ; nor, indeed, could it 
be, without impairing man's own blessedness. Some 
method there must be, by which humanity, with all its 
proclivities to evil, with all the stifihess and steadfast- 
ness of its own will, shall be reclaimed to a hearty and 
joyful obedience. No new revelation of mere law could 
do this, since it is in reference to law that our nature 
has proved itself defective. No exhibitions of terror 
could awaken love in a soul where love is already want- 
ing. No stern utterances of authority could do it. No 
excitements of fear could do it. No revelations of dan- 
ger could do it. No pressure of necessity and obligation 
could do it. No explosive volleys of menace and wrath 
could do it. Had every mountain-top on earth become 
like Sinai, pealing the voice of the law, amid earth- 
quakes and darkness, " The soul that sinneth, it shall 



132 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

diu !" — this could not do it. If the world in which we 
live had been filled with all forms and expressions of 
incensed power — the heavens gathering blackness, flash- 
ing thick flames, and the solid earth trembling with con- 
vulsive expectation of God's righteous judgment — all 
tliis would not do it. The alienated afl'ections of man's 
soul are never reclaimed by force, nor power, nor obli- 
gation, nor anger, nor just displeasure — for they will 
sullenly adhere to their own objects, even though those 
objects are known to be unworthy and interdicted. 

The method by which God recovers man to obedi- 
ence is the same by which he overcomes his shame and 
fear. By the exhibition of his own love to us, he would 
win our love to him. What law could not accomplish 
in its naked majesty and its righteous severity, that has 
been accomplished by other expressions of God's mar- 
vellous love. We love him because he first loved us. 
Gratitude becomes more potent than obligation; and 
the generosity of God awakens affections which never 
could be summoned into life in the heart of the disobe- 
dient by all the might and menaces of authority. '' And 
I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." 

Strong, indeed, are the attractions of the Saviour's 
mercy. That cross on which the Son of God was raised 
to the eye of the world, is the central magnet by which 
the hearts of the ungrateful are to be drawn back to 
their Maker. It was the self-offering of love. It was 



LOVE KINDLED BY LOVE. 133 

love making the highest, fullest, greatest expression of 
its own sincerity. Like the hiding of God's power did 
it seem — as the very darkest of all mysteries — that 
day when the world's Redeemer hung in mortal agonies 
on the tree, and the sun hid its face, and the earth 
shuddered at the expiring groans of her Lord — but 
there is no hiding of God's love, no veiling of God's 
intention now, that he who was dead is alive again; 
and a light brighter than that of the sun shines from 
the face of him who rose from the tomb of Joseph. A 
reinforcement is given to our weak and wasted strength 
when this potency of God's unveiled and unmingled 
love is applied to help our obedience. Many a man 
who has braved the terrors of Omnipotence, and defied 
the wrath of his Maker, has been subdued by this infi- 
nite generosity of love. Had he seen only the flaming 
sword of cherubim brandishing vengeance — had he felt 
himself pursued by some minister of justice armed with 
the implements of pain — he would have strengthened 
himself to contend and to endure ; but when Jesus Christ 
comes toward him with tenderness of compassion, with 
smiles of benignity, nay, even with tears of sympathy ; 
when he brings the gift of life in that hand which bears 
the print of the nail, and proclaims all which is good 
and gracious with that voice whose death-sigh convulsed 
the earth — enmity is slain, the hard heart is dissolved, 
and the penitent falls at the feet of mercy, kissing them 



134 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

in gratitude, and bathing them with the tears of a sub« 
dued and loving spirit. 

Nor is even this all which our Redeemer has accom- 
plished for the restoration of the soul itself. By assu- 
ming our own nature he has convinced us of its capaci- 
ties, and furnished us with a model. It is here that the 
example of the Son of God exerts its intended power. 
Because we can not admit that the mere living and teach- 
ing of Jesus Christ were all the help which he imparted 
to our race, let us not overlook the real help and ad- 
vantage which his living example was designed to 
afford. That perfection of his personal life, which by 
itself could only reprove and condemn us by a painful 
contrast, becomes a positive joy now that it is associa- 
ted with the consolations of pardon and the promises of 
assistance. He entered into the very life of man. He 
took upon himself the nature not of angels, but of those 
whom he would redeem. He presented in his own living 
form an idea of what man was designed to be, and wliat 
again he will be, when restored and perfected. The law- 
giver has furnished in his own human life, the complete 
fulfilment of his own law. He was a child — he was a 
son — he was a mechanic — he was a citizen — he was a 
sufferer — he was a man. At every point, save one, he 
conjoined himself to our nature in completest sympathy. 
His immaculate purity entered into no fellowship with 
sin ; but into every infirmity and depression of our race 



A LIVING SAVIOUR. 135 

he descended with an actual and living experience. 
He was poor, yet he exhibited cheerfulness : he was 
subject to parents, that he might show us the beauty of 
filial respect and love ; his hand was addicted to honest 
work, that he might teach us happy industry ; a man of 
prayer was he, that he might excite us to habits of devo- 
tion : he was reviled, and was meek ; wronged, and was 
patient ; insulted, and answered not ; persecuted, and 
was forgiving ; put to death, and prayed for his murder- 
ers. In all points did he become like unto us in condition 
and circumstances, that we might be helped to become 
like him in feeling and conduct. His own feet have 
trodden the path in which he would have us to go. 
The possibilities and futurities of our nature are ex- 
hibited in his own actual life. 

Nor must we think of this sympathy as confined to 
the few years '' when his blessed feet walked the acres 
of Palestine." There is reason to fear that we accustom 
ourselves to think of this our Restorer only as he icas, 
and not rather as he is. We have seen him lying 
beneath the trees of Gethsemane ; but that form is not 
there to-day Let us not endeavor to conceive of him 
only as when wrapped in the winding-sheet of linen, in 
the sepulchre of the garden. Neither let us delude 
ourselves with the idea that he was a personage of a 
past and remote history only. He who was dead is 
alive for evermore. Our Redeemer lives — lives not only 



136 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

in the manifested glories of heaven, amid incense and 
praises and worship, he lives among us still — in us, and 
with us. He is our living, active, and sympathizing 
helper to-day. " Lo, I am with you alway, even to the 
end of the world." '' Wherever two or three are met 
togetlier in my name, there am I in the midst of them." 
'' I go away, but I will come again. For a season I go 
where your sense of sight can not follow, but I will re- 
turn — help you, and comfort you — in ways which nei- 
ther sense nor unbelief can discover." The Comforter 
shall come and abide in you. Now, indeed, we seem 
to be mounting to the climax of a Saviour's mercy. 
His expiation for our sins prepared the way for our 
forgiveness: his love conquered our shame and at- 
tracts our obedience : his example presents our model : 
his sympathy cheers us with encouragement : and his 
promised Spirit proves the Comforter of the world, 
by illuminating our darkness, strengthening our weak- 
ness, persuading our reluctance, inspiring our languor, 
enkindling our life, and so by all tliese varied means 
and methods we are lifted up out of depression into 
hope, and gladness, and immortality. 

Nor is all this merely a theory of religion. The re- 
demption of our Lord has actually proved itself equal 
to all its promises. Christ returned not to the skies 
unattended by the trophies of his success. That peni- 
tent malefactor who was cruciiBed at his side went with 



A POTENT FACT. 137 

him to the Paradise of God — a proof and a pledge of 
his power to save. Ever since a long procession of re- 
deemed men have been entering in through the gates 
into the city, and more will follow in numbers like unto 
drops of the morning dew, till at last unbelief is in the 
minority, the race is restored, and Christ, seeing of tlie 
travail of his soul, shall be satisfied. 

It remains yet to be considered what this redemption 
has already accomplished ; to what degree it has miti- 
gated the woes of the world; what changes it has 
wrought; what prospects are dawning now upon our 
race ; and what is that future state wherein the resto- 
ration of man is complete. 

Having visited Eden and Gethsemane, we must also 
visit that second Paradise where the redeemed shall 
walk in glory. But before we treat of that resurrec- 
tion which is at the last, when death and the grave are 
abolished for ever, let us remember that there is another 
kind of resurrection which is needful now — a spiritual 
resurrection from a spiritual death — for the time noiu is 
— when the dead hear the voice of the Son of God, and 
live ! Now is the time for us to make sure of that ulti- 
mate rising with Christ to his throne, by rising with 
him in the regeneration. He who stood at the grave 
of Bethany, with mingled tears and power, the sympa- 
thy of a bereaved man and the might of omnipotence, 
and said, '' Lazarus, come forth," approaches us now, 



138 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

in sabbath ordinances and privileges — in the records 
of his love and the voices of his truth — bidding us 
awake, arise, and live. As the whole body of the sea 
is SAvayed by the attractions of the heavenly orb, let 
us yield to the redemption of Christ and be lifted up 
by the power of his love who came to help, restore, 
and save. 



VIII. 

"TIMES OF RESTITUTION/' 

Let us look at life as it is. Here we are in an act- 
ual world. Beneath these overarching skies, now one 
expanse of cloudless blue, now darkened with gloom, 
and now piled up with vapor of gorgeous white — with 
sunrising and sunsetting — with stars in their order and 
brilliancy — spring, summer, autumn, and winter; — a 
world wherein are births, baptisms, and deaths, young 
children and old men, cradles and graves — a world 
wherein are homes and warehouses, selling and buying, 
farming and commerce, governments and law, peniten- 
tiaries and gibbets, sickness and health, wrongs and 
charities, outrages and mercies, pleasures and woes, 
laughter and groans, riches and poverty, honor and 
shame, war and peace, good men and bad men, and 
many which you know not how to call and classify 
them — the good who are not all good, and the bad 



140 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

who are not bad altogether — men of all pursuits — 
laborers and scholars, merchants, lawyers, physicians, 
preachers, and all having enough of varied work to 
do — an actual world it is, with fields, and skies, and 
water — with railroads, manufactories, ships, school- 
houses, and churches — with six days for working, and 
one day for resting and rejoicing : such is the veritable 
scene where we awake to consciousness, and where we 
are now passing our own existonce. Here is something 
at the farthest remove from theory. Here is an actual 
state of things, with which we are brought into direct 
contact. 

How, now, does our theory of Christianity corre- 
spond to such a world as this ? How do the truths of 
the New-Testament revelation apply to the facts with 
which we are conversant ? And how are we, in this 
our personal life, and in this actual world, to avail 
ourselves of the promised benefits of redemption ? 

How would you describe this world in which we live, 
and this life through which we are passing ? Surely 
not as a world of unmingled blessedness. You gaze 
upon one of those bright orbs in the evening sky, and, 
without any certain knowledge whether it is inhabited 
or not, you imagine it to be the abode of an order of 
beings never yet cursed and corrupted by sin; you 
listen in the still night, as if you almost hoped to catch 



FACTS AND THEORY. 141 

some strain of music floating down to assure you that 
there were worlds of unmixed purity and joy. With- 
out exercising your fancy at all, you know, for an as« 
sured certainty, that there is one world in which is 
no element of evil. Sin is not there. Sorrow is not 
there. There is no tear in any eye. There is no sick- 
ness. Neither is there any death. It is the central 
palace of the Great King — the home of holiness, of 
love, of joy unspeakable, and glory unclouded. 

Surely this world is not like that. When your eye 
turned from gazing upon that world above, it fell on a 
poor cripple, a beggar clad in rags, a pale-faced and 
weeping child, a lonely, haggard widow ; it fell on a 
yard full of graves. Your ear, when it wearied with 
waiting to catch some song from the azure sky, was 
assailed with oaths and blasphemy, with the groaning 
of the prisoner, the cry of the oppressed, and the moan 
of the dying. Surely, surely, this is not heaven. Nei- 
ther is it such a world as we should imagine it would 
have been if it had retained the original character it 
had when it came from the hand of its rejoicing Maker, 
uninvaded by evil. Dogmas apart, theologies apart, 
revelation itself apart, surely this world in which we 
live is not as bright and blessed as it might be. 

Imagine, again, a world in which there is no joy, and 
no goodness, and no hope. Let it be filled with beings 
self-abandoned to all wicked courses ; addicted to evil 



142 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

under no restraint ; furnished with bodies which can 
stand the recoil of sinful practices ; in which there is 
no obstruction to wicked passion, shame foaming out 
itself, and malignity flaming up its own wrath. There 
is a world of which the Son of God himself has spoken, 
as prepared for the devil and his angels. It is a world 
of outer darkness, of weeping and wailing, of remorse 
and of despair — a prison with gloomy apparatus of 
wo — with chains, and waitings for the judgment of the 
great day — with smoke of torment, the quenchless 
flame, the deathless worm, and no hope ! 

Neither is this world, where we now are, like unto 
that. Here is the bright sun, and the flowers of the 
field, and the gladness of the sky ; here are liberty, 
and hope, and pleasure ; here are good men and good 
deeds, household worship, laughing children, sabbath 
hymns, and temples of God where we meet to pray 
and to adore ; here are all manner of kindly affec- 
tions, and pleasant pursuits, and joyful hopes. Surely 
this world is not like hell; it is not an Aceldama — a 
field of blood; nor a Golgotha — the place of dead 
men's bones, and nothing beside. 

IIow, then, shall we describe this world of oui' habi 
tation, and how interpret the scene of our earthly exist- 
ence ? Precisely in correspondence with the great facts 
and truths of the Christian religion. It is another of 
those unbribcd testimonies to the ti-uth of the Christian 



AN ASCENDING SCALE. 143 

faith, that its written statements are the exact counter- 
part of the actual facts which are round about us. 
This world is not all goodness, neither is it all evil ; it 
is not a world where goodness is perfected, neither one 
where evil is unmodified and unrestrained : it is a world 
which sin has stricken, and which mercy is now reclaim- 
ing. It is a fallen, blighted world, in the very 
PROCESS OF RESTITUTION. The doctrinc of Christianity 
alone unlocks this mystery of life, by an adequate ex- 
planation. The wards of the lock and the structure of 
the key correspond precisely. Things answer to the- 
ory ; facts fit unto doctrines. The written word affirms 
that man has fallen — humanity deteriorated ; that sin 
and death are in the world, but that God purposes to 
redeem and to restore ; that there is hope for the fallen, 
help for the guilty, life for the dead. And, turning 
from the inspired page to this actual world, we meet 
the echo of the same truth, the veritable spectacle of 
the same reality — a fallen world in the course of re- 
covery ; apostate man on an ascending g-rade^ under the 
auspices of hope and mercy. 

If this world be not like to the temple of God and 
the Lamb, or to our Father's house in heaven with its 
many mansions, it is a Bethesda, with a great number 
of blind, and sick, and impotent folk, lying about in its 
many porches — yet not without hope, for the Son of 
God is among them, asking them Avhether they would 



144 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

be made whole, and bidding them rise up and walk. 
Many resemblances, indeed, has this world to an im- 
mense hospital, wherein, if there be many signs and 
proofs of accidents, fractures, wounds, and diseases, 
there are also the most skilful or surgeons, the most 
potent of remedies, the most tender of nursing, where 
even the sick and the wretched smile and are glad un- 
der the shelter of kindness. 

We have opened the Scriptures, and read what God 
promised from the beginning he would do ; and what 
he actually has done in sending his Son Jesus Christ to 
declare his love, and turn us away from our iniquities. 
We have endeavored to show wherein this act of Jesus 
Christ was adapted to accomplish the results at which 
it aimed ; how it avails to rectify our relations to vio^ 
lated law, and what power there is in it to change and 
control the will and affections of men. This is what 
you may call the theory, the rationale^ of Christianity. 
And now we ask you to observe how exactly the facts 
of this very world in which we live, and through which 
we are passing, cor ospond to this representation. 

Conceive what '.his world would have been, long ere 
this, if it had been abandoned of God to the practice 
and penalties of sin. If the machine could have lasted 
so long— if the world had not been consumed in the 
fires of its own kindling — what the spectacle it would 
present of a race detcriorotod and deteriorating, witii 



CURATIVE PROCESS. 145 

no power or prospect of self-recovery — inflamed, exas- 
perated, srullen, despairing, self-abandoned to sin un- 
cliecked and unrestrained ! Conceive what this world 
would be if every act of sin received its just recompense 
of reward, and punishment, in every instance, followed 
hard after transgression ! Such is not the correct de- 
scription of our world. Sin is here, but it is sin under 
restraint -7- sin with the promise of forgiveness and res- 
toration! The heavens have received again the form 
of Him who has been preached unto us as the Promised 
One, and there )ie abides until the restitution of all 
things — a restitution now in progress, through the for- 
bearance of God. So it has been appointed in his wis- 
dom that this curative process should be gradual. In- 
stead of being accomplished by his instantaneous om- 
nipotence, he has instituted methods instrumental and 
subsidiary, the successful development of which may 
consume centuries of time. 

Observe, then, the long-suffering of Grod. He is not 
slack concerning his word ; he is not insensible to the 
evil of sin ; he is not indifferent to the crimes of the 
world ; but he is patient and full of forbearance. This 
world is not governed on the principle of just retribu- 
tion, immediately administered, for all sin. Penalties, 
retributions of certain kinds and degrees, indeed exist ; 
and these are necessary to keep sin within limits, and 
under restraint. But it is plain enough that this world's 



146 THE GARDEN OP GETHSEMANE. 

affairs are not conducted on the principle of a full and 
immediate punishment for all iniquity. Many of those 
methods employed of God under an earlier system of 
law, when as yet the redemption of man was but par- 
tially revealed — methods which partook of the char- 
acter of severity and of judgment — are now stayed and 
withdrawn in these days of God's waiting and long- 
suffering. Many are they who defy the law of their 
Maker, and trample it beneath their feet. But the 
heavens do not gather blackness, and dart the bolts of 
God upon the head of the guilty. The swift ministers 
of divine justice do not arrest them. The earth does 
not open to swallow them up. Instead thereof, the 
rain falleth gently on the just and the unjust ; the sun 
shineth on the evil and on the good ; the boldest atheist 
enjoys the largest liberty ; his fields are not given up 
to blasting and mildew ; God's dew and showers fall 
upon them, and they yield their increase ; God's winds 
waft his ships from sea to sea, and God's rivers turn 
his mill-wheels and water his meadows ; God gives him 
health, and home, and comforts innumerable, for God 
is patient, and these are the days Avherein God would 
have all men come to the knowledge of the truth and 
be saved. 

In a word, the state of things in this world is pre- 
cisely such as we should expect it to be, in accordance 
with the revealed facts and doctrines of the New Tes- 



WAITING AND RESTORING. 147 

tament. Affairs move on under the forbearance and 
tender mercy of that God who would restore and save. 
Time goes on without a jar or convulsion ; days, weeks, 
months, years, follow one another in serene procession ; 
man goeth forth to work, and returneth to his rest ; 
he lieth down, and his sleep is sweet; for everything 
there is a season ; there is a time to be born, a time to 
plant, a time to travel, and a time for all life's mul- 
tifarious pursuits : for God is not punishing and de- 
stroying, but sparing, and waiting, and restoring, grad- 
ually lifting up the world to the ultimate and com- 
plete restitution of all things. Woes, sorrows, indeed 
are here ; but these are not alone or unmingled. These 
do not complete the description of our world. What 
forms of beauty, what expressions of goodness, what 
favors of Providence, are multiplied around us ! Light 
is sown for our gladness ; fruits, beyond all necessity, 
are afforded for our pleasure ; flowers, surpassing the 
glory of kings, are strewn along our path ; the birds 
warble their songs of innocence ; the bow of God 
arches the sky with its glorious tints ; and earth, and 
sea, and the heavens, are crowded with all forms of 
kindness, of love, and of delight. A sabbath in the 
spring — the "bridal of the earth and sky" — when all 
the recollections of early life come back in images of 
stillness, brightness, and beauty, proclaims even to the 
deafness of infidelity, ' Verily, God has not abandoned 



148 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

tlie world, but he loves it still, and is guiding it on to 
the restitution of all things.' 

The fact is, the world is actually rising up out of the 
waters of the deluge. The human race is on an ascend- 
ing scale. The prospects of the world are brighter 
than they ever were before. Those parts of the globe 
which have been upheaved into the light, are clothed 
with verdure such as never has been seen since the fresh- 
ness of Eden. The curse has been lifted up and lifted off 
till it is scarcely felt. The curse of sw;eating, drudg- 
ing, depressing labor, has been mitigated and ex- 
changed for the blessing of cheerful and self-rewarding 
work. There is more of activity in the world : more 
of industry, more of intelligence, more of thrift, more 
of hope, more of liberty, and more of enjoyment. 
Eyeless and atheistic philosophy reasons and speculates 
as to the cause and occasion of this : but there is only 
one cause and explanation. God has undertaken the 
world's restoration — the times of refreshing have come 
from his presence — He who made the world has re- 
prieved it — He who reprieves has redeemed it — He 
who has redeemed has promised a complete restitu- 
tion. 

The salvation of man begins here, and is consumma- 
ted hereafter. Associate not that word only with the 
joys and rewards of a future Paradise. Send not your 
thoughts away beyond the judgment — tliink not only 



SALVATION BEGUN. 149 

of the white throne — and the welcomed ones on the 
right hand of the judge — of the city and the kingdom 
of God. Salvation has its commencement here — its 
completion there. The gospel saves men now. It has 
changed the aspect and prospect of the world already. 
Many, indeed, share in the general benefits conveyed 
by the work of Christ passively and involmitarily, who 
have no other lot or part in his kingdom. There is not 
a merchant, or mechanic, or farmer, in Christendom, 
not a man, nor a child, who is not enjoying a thousand 
advantages proceeding directly from the gospel of our 
Lord ; and this none the less because they think not of 
the cause to which they are indebted. Humanity may 
be recovered out of many of the ills into which it would 
be crowded and depressed by the weight and gravitation 
of unrestrained iniquity, without reaching that highest 
restitution of all, which consists in the likeness and com- 
munion of God. Nevertheless, this latter attainment 
is never secured without comprehending and involving 
all preceding benefits. One may be upborne into 
many mercies, along with the world to which he be- 
longs, rising and rising as it does by the leverage of 
redeeming love, whose own soul may never share in 
the spiritual restoration which is through Jesus Christ. 
But faith in the Redeemer is sure to give man eleva- 
tion in this present life whicli nothing beside can ever 
promise. 



150 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

This is done by the surest and simplest of all meth- 
ods. It is through the gospel that man learns the 
value of his own existence. Glimpses of that he ob- 
tains when he reads that he was fashioned by the hand 
of God — that the inspiration of the Almighty gave 
him life — when he studies the wonders of his own 
frame and spirit : but it is only in the act of the Re- 
deemer's condescension, suffering, and death, that man 
learns the true worth and importance of his own being. 
In this one conviction behold the seed of all growth — 
the beginning of all advancement. Never will that 
man throw himself away, by indulging in practices 
which ruin, who has been taught aright, what the Son 
of God endured for his redemption, acquiring thus 
a new estimate of his own nature and being. Here is 
a power which tends to man's uplifting in all things. 
The mind grows with such a perception, and intelli- 
gence and knowledge are the fruit. The health of the 
body is promoted by it also ; for sin entails infirmities, 
diseases, and death, upon the physical frame. Industry 
is born of it ; for man's work is animated by hope and 
cheerfulness. His worldly estate is benefited thereby, 
since everything pertaining to his life and person has a 
new importance. Freedom, enterprise, energy, what 
ever is good and valuable, proceed from this convic- 
tion of God's love for man ; and the race is sure to 
improve, and the world to brighten, under such a resto- 



PRACTICAL QUESTION. 151 

rativc principle. Slowly, surely, certainly, our com- 
mon humanity is rising under the power of that gospel 
which promises for tlie future complete and universal 
restitution. 

Our personal life is briefer, by far, than the life of 
the species. The world continues, but our days upon 
the earth are few. Many centuries may revolve before 
the world is completely restored ; but the question of 
our individual salvation is to be decided within a nar- 
rower space of time. In this matter we must separate 
ourselves as individuals from tlie general life of our 
race, and consider well the nature of the probation 
upon which we are now passing our earthly existence. 

In the course of these consecutive topics, we have 
made frequent use of the expression, the first and the 
second probation of human nature — the first having 
regard to simple obedience to law ; the second to the 
prescribed method of relief and restoration. We can 
not be too familiar with this distinction. It is this 
which makes and marks the difference between man in 
Eden and man in apostacy. Involved in all the liabili- 
ties and woes of the fall, the question proposed to us, 
in reference to which our personal life is passing, re- 
lates to the treatment of proffered help and a provided 
redemption. " Wilt thou be made whole ?" Wilt thou 
be saved? This is the question which describes the 
terms of our moral probation. Shall we be partakers 



152 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

of this great restitution, and share in all the benefits 
dispensed by the Son of God ? 

Let us observe how our actual life corresponds to 
this inspired representation. Surely the tender mercy 
of God has visitei us, for life is prolonged, that we 
may have space for repentance. The substance of the 
gospel revelation is — ^Repent, and be converted, that 
your sins may be blotted out, seeing that the times of 
refreshing from the presence of the Lord have already 
come.' 

Everything appears to be arranged and conducted, 
in the providence of God, on the principle of presenting 
this question to our minds most auspiciously. The terms 
of probation are well defined in a written revelation. 
There is no vagueness in their expression. That these 
terms should not pass from the mind, God has appointed 
that there should be a frequent declaration of them by 
the human voice. He actually sends the ofi*er of par- 
don, and the invitations of his love, unto the children 
of men. He intends his gospel to be preached. He 
would have it heralded everywhere. He has purposed 
that there should be a class of men whose very life and 
object it shall be to proclaim unto their fellow-men the 
long-suffering and tender mercy of God, and beseech 
them to turn and live. That this might not be crowd- 
ed or drowned out of the minds of men by the cares 
of life, a whole day of the week, the seventh part of 



RENEWED MAN. 153 

human life, is set apart for the express purpose of keep- 
ing alive in the soul of man the conviction of life's 
great object and end. 

Our salvation is not to be deferred to a distant judg^ 
ment and a distant heaven. God would save us here^ 
and save us now. He would inspire us with hope, bless 
us witli peace, and anoint us with gladness. He would 
bring our humanity under his curative and restorative 
power. He has actually accomplished this in regard 
to many. We are conversant with facts all around us 
which correspond exactly with the Christian theory and 
doctrine. We see and know the men who are actually 
resuscitated, and in process of being restored. They 
are not perfect. They are not holy as man was in 
Eden. They are not like the angels. They are men 
—heirs of all the ills to wliich our nature is subject ; 
they have sinned ; they have wept ; but they have be- 
gun to hope, and begun to live. The diseased eye has 
been medicated, the deaf ear has been opened, the frac- 
tured limb been reduced, the broken heart bound up, 
and salvation has begun. It will be carried on unto 
perfection. That which is converted will be sancti- 
fied ; that which is sanctified now in part, will be 
sanctified wholly, and glorified in the '' restitution of 
all things." 

Just this is what God requires and waits for in every 
one of us. We must begin with repentance and con- 



154 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

version, that we may go on to restoration and glory. 
He would have us yield ourselves to the Great Physi- 
cian of the soul, that we may be healed. That process 
of healing may be long ; oftentimes we may doubt 
whether it is advancing at all ; but we may be sure, if 
we commit ourselves by faith to the promised helper 
and restorer of man, he will not leave his work unfin- 
ished. There is no promise of exemption from all sor- 
row. Affliction will come ; tribulation will come ; old 
age will come ; sickness will come ; and death will not 
tarry. Nevertheless, the believer may hope ; he may 
be at peace ; he may be of good cheer, for his salvation 
is begun. Graves are all around him ; but he has been 
taught, what Nature never could teach, to think of the 
dead without weeping — to hope and to smile in the 
very path and presence of Death. Mysteries are about 
him, but the light breaks through the riven cloud. The 
larger part of the human race die in infancy. Very 
little is said concerning such — this great mystery of 
Providence — in the Old Testament. What light gleams 
upon it in the New — now that we read of the infancy 
of Jesus — of the martyrdom of the babes of Bethlehem 
— of Christ taking little children into his arms, and 
pronouncing them of the kingdom of heaven ; now that 
we read of redemption in its glorious extent and full- 
ness ! What gladness shines in upon the mystery, as 
we follow the majority of those born into the world, 



BELIEVE AND BE SAVED. 155 

for number like the blossoms of the spring, in their 
early rescue and their glorious translation ! We actu- 
ally live in a world where light shines on the very spot 
the name of which has been changed from sepulchre to 
cemetery^ the sleeping-place of the redeemed. That 
little grave, among trees and flowers, which seems 
greener and more beautiful than any spot beside — 
which the hand of a bereaved parentage loves to smooth 
and adorn, and the heart visits so often — is not the 
cold, and cheerless, and dreaded place it would have 
been had we not heard of Christ. Hope haloes the 
head of the sleeping child; it is rescued — it is saved. 
Who would frustrate the Saviour's purpose ? who would 
forbid him to encircle the lambs in his arms, and gather 
them to his bosom ? 

Let redemption have its sway and success. The very 
graves preach to us salvation. All things conspire to 
teach us this grand drift and tenor of God's purposes. 
The sun shines, as if it would say, '' God is good and 
gracious, and would have you to be saved." Life is 
prolonged, and echoes the same gospel. Business un- 
interrupted — this going forth to buy and to gain — de- 
clares that God is long-sufifering. The sabbath returns, 
and proclaims aloud the very terms and conditions of 
our probation — '' Be converted, be saved !" We open 
the Scriptures, and they say to us on every page : "• Re- 
pent ! these are days of mercy ; believe, and be saved." 



156 THE GARDEN OP GETHSEMANE. 

The ocean-current — the winds and the waves — all set 
thitherward. We might almost see, in these days of 
restitution, God's hand beckoning us from the skies, as 
we do hear his voice, saying, " Come, come and live." 
Nothing, absolutely nothing, do we see designed to dis- 
courage or to destroy us ; everything is arranged to 
hold before us this one critical question of our second 
and last probation : Will we believe in the Redeemer, 
and be saved ? 

The last probation, did we say ? Is not this the 
scripture statement ? Is any other probation necessa- 
ry ? Is not this sufficient ? May we not be saved now ? 
What other question can be proposed to us hereafter 
than this ? What other trial is needed than this very 
one, whether we will be redeemed and restored ? If 
this terminates disastrously, through our unbelief and 
folly, what other measure of relief can we conceive of? 

What remaineth for such as reject a Saviour ? If 
one spurns the remedy, if one defeats redemption, if 
one rejects the pardon, if one will not be saved by that 
miraculous method which is interposed to break the 
natural and constituted connection between sin and suf- 
fering, guilt and punishment, what hope of deliverance 
can there be ? If the gospel be hid, if the blood of the 
Son of God be despised, if the Redeemer be scorned 
and slighted, what remaineth, but a certain looking for 
of judgment? Sin unforgiven, penalties unremitted, 



NO OTHER PROBATION. 157 

punishments unrestrained, must have their straight, 
changeless, and eternal course. How can we escape 
if we neglect the great salvation ? How can we stay 
the worlds in their course, or stop the march of un- 
changeable realities ? What shall the end be of those 
who obey not the gospel ? 

Let us hear the word again. The Eedeemer has as- 
cended to the skies. The times of refreshing have 
come. The world waits its final and complete restitu- 
tion : " Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that 

yOUR SINS MAY BE BLOTTED OUT." 



IX. 

THE LAW OF RETRIBUTION. 

In treating of the method of man's redemption and 
restoration, we have had to deal with the miracles of 
God's compassion and love. We have rehearsed his 
own promises to forgive, forgive freely, and forgive unto 
the uttermost. We read in the gospel that it is his good 
pleasure to pardon, help, and save, all who will avail 
themselves of his infinite mercy. A grateful theme is 
this on which to dwell and descant. 

But these are not the only facts pertaining to man's 
recovery and God's administration. We have seen 
how the mediation of Jesus Christ has rectified our re- 
lations to moral government, so that the exercise of the 
pardoning power may not be impeded. We have seen 
tliat the mediation of Jesus Christ, as an expression of 
God's love, is adapted to awaken gratitude and love in 
the soul of man. Admitting all this, we are told that 
tlier.o are other facts in man's history — facts of Nature, 



NATURAL LAWS. 159 

laius of Nature, if you will — which demand our notice, 
and which, in some manner, must be disposed of before 
tlie recovery of man can be regarded as a possibility. 

We are told of that law of retribution which is in- 
WTOught with our natural constitution: not of a law 
whose penalties may be inflicted or remitted arbitrarily 
at the mere pleasure of the Ruling Power — but penal- 
ties which are inseparable from our own bodies and 
souls — the results of laws which are as undeviating as 
those which guide and govern the planets. We can 
conceive, it is said, how the Most High, in the exercise 
of his mere mercy, can remit some forms of punishment 
which he has seen fit to connect with the violation of 
his moral law ; but how can he arrest the operation 
of those natural laws which connect pain and sufier- 
ing with evil courses, without breaking in upon and 
breaking up that constitution of the universe which 
he has created and ordained to be fixed and immu- 
table ? 

All will agree that this is a topic of no ordinary in- 
terest or importance. We would not overlook nor 
slight it. We must comprehend it, before we can just 
ify the scriptural theory of conversion — that inspired 
direction which requires the wicked man to forsake his 
ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, promising 
them exemption from all the consequences of previous 
transgression. 



160 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

Let us, then, before we proceed to treat of that ulti- 
mate perfection which awaits man's complete restora- 
tion in a future life, pause a while and consider well 
the nature and operation of the great law of retribur- 
lion. Justice to the theme itself requires that we should 
state the law in all its length and breadth. Afterward, 
w^e will endeavor to show in what manner the law of 
mercy is made to agree with the law of retribution. 

The word retribution^ as its etymology shows, sig- 
nifies a paying- back^ and evidently intends those con- 
sequences which are the results and rewards of evil 
actions. It is briefly but strongly expressed in scrip- 
tural language : ^' Be not deceived; God is not mocked. 
What a man soweth, that shall he also reap." 

Differences of opinion may exist among men as to 
the nature of retribution — its extent, its strictness, 
its severity, and its continuance ; but it would not 
be easy to find a man vfho will deny the existence 
of retribution altogether. He may be skeptical as to 
the regularity with which this retributive law may op- 
erate, but he must forswear the use and evidence of his 
own senses before he can question the reality of some 
form of retribution in this present life. Here is some- 
thing which does not depend upon the philological in- 
terpretation of the Scriptures. Here is something be- 
yond the use and import of any one word, Hcl)rcw, 



PARENTAL POWER. 161 

Greek, or English. We refer, just now, to facts^ and 
not theories — facts which are as palpable to the pro- 
fanest of infidels as to the most devout of believers — 
facts which the Scriptures do not originate, and which 
would be no less real if the Scriptures never had been 
written. 

One of the first facts with which we come into con- 
tact in this world is governing power ; and the power 
which governs is retributive power — the power which 
ti'eats in accordance as it is itself treated. No one has 
an unrelated or independent existence. A child is not 
destined to live in this world free from all moral re- 
sponsibility, as a flower, or the flower-shaped insect 
which flutters over it. There is a power above it, and 
around it, which controls it — governs it; and to that 
power it must yield obedience, or sufier. Parental au- 
thority is not a product of revelation, although revela- 
tion recognises, sanctions, and instructs it. It is a fact 
which the God of Nature has established prior to and 
independent of the disclosures of Christianity. There 
is no part of the earth — no tribe nor clan, civilized 
or barbarous. Christian or pagan — where the human in- 
fant does not pass under parental government ; the only 
difference being that, where Christianity prevails, 
government is less capricious, less cruel, and more ra- 
tional and more benign. No sooner do the lungs begin 
to play, and the limbs to move, and the intelligence to 



162 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

open, than a child finds itself in the presence of a pow- 
er which it can not resist with impunity. Disobey that 
power, and retribution, more or less emphatic, more or 
less equitable, is the consequence. Resist that author- 
ity, and childhood deprives itself of parental favor and 
confidence, to say the least, if it docs not subject itself 
to a concussion more violent and painful. This gov- 
erning power is a law of Nature. Nor is there any 
escape from it for one born of the human race. 

Imagine that one breaks away from the restraints 
of his own parentage, and will not brook them at all. 
Can he flee from the presence of law, and the power of 
retribution ? He may dream of exemption from all re- 
straint. Think you he can ever find it ? He goes to 
sea, as many a wayward youth has done, in anticipation 
of an illusive freedom. He has changed the form^ not 
the reality^ of the governing and retributive power. It 
is less patient, less tolerant, less gentle, of necessity far 
more emphatic and decided, than that from which he 
flees ; and, let him presume to resist the power which 
rules the ship, and a rope's end or iron handcuff will 
soon convince him that he has not escaped the presence 
or the power of retribution. 

Dreams he still of a perfect liberty, laughing and 
scoffing at all laws to gain it ? Behold him, then, on 
the deck of the bloodiest pirate which ever prowled on 
the windward station ! He calls himself an outlaw ; 



GOVERNING POWER. 163 

but is he beyond and above all laAV ? Where is that 
dreaded, hated thing, law^ so rigorous, so inexorable, 
so merciless, as among men so atrociously wicked, that 
they have no confidence in one another, and so, by the 
instinct of self-preservation, are compelled to protect 
themselves by a common principle and law of fear. 
Let that wayward, reckless man, who has imagined that 
he could disfranchise himself from all restraint, and 
find a boundless liberty for his own will, but lift his 
hand against the power which rules the crew of the 
buccaneer, and, if he prove not the stronger, in five 
minutes he will swing from the yard-arm, or walk the 
plank ! ^ 

Or has he deceived himself with dreamy notions of 
absolute freedom on the islands of the sea, remote from 
the laws of civilization, where Nature recognises no law 
but appetite? Legislation, enlightened, rational, and 
benignant, there may not be; but power — governing 
power, of some description — there is; and let him, in 
his fancy of unrestrained indulgence, bring its suspicions 
upon himself, its jealousy or its hate, and secret poison, 
the war-club, or the bowstring, will soon prove to him, 
though he dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, that 
he can not flee from the presence of retributive power. 

We can dispense, just now, with all speculations con- 
cerning the origin and prerogatives of human govern- 
ment. We are concerned with the fact^ for such it is. 



164 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

that there never was a form of society, a time, or a 
place, where the presence of a governing power — and 
a power which governs always implies a power which 
repays and rewards — of some description, was not felt, 
either patriarchal, hereditary, assumed, or delegated ; 
and so universal is this fact, that it must be regarded 
as a laiv of Nature. Modify the governing power as 
you will ; disorganize society and reorganize it as you 
may; experiment upon this form and upon that — men 
must have their laws, and he who infringes them 
must deprive himself of all the advantages they were 
designed to secure. The Christian religion has its 
own doctrine, its instructions, and its laws, in relation 
to government of all kinds, parental and political ; 
but it does not originate the necessity or the fact of 
some ruling power, which would remain immutable if 
every copy of the New Testament were consumed from 
the earth. These are facts and laws of Nature. 

Passing from these visible forms and expressions of 
governing power, there are other forms of retribution 
which are entirely and absolutely independent of all 
human agency. There are retributive laws which are 
altogether irrespective of human legislation. There 
are laws of nature, and there are laws of God, which 
are altogether distinct from the written code. Tliey 
are written on the fleshly tables of the heart ; in tlie 
articulation of the joints ; in the fibre of the flesh ; in 



RETRIBUTION OF NATURE. 165 

the marrow of the bones ; in the meshes of the brain ; 
in the life of the nerves ; all over and all through this 
wonderful mechanism of the body and the soul. These 
are not to be relaxed or mitigated by any mere impulse 
of mercy. They are fixed and changeless ordinances 
of God. 

Conceive of a man exiled upon another Juan Fernan- 
dez, some uninhabited island, where is neither father, 
nor chief, nor king, nor sheik, nor ruler of any name, nor 
law in any of its representatives, nor society in any of 
its restraints, where there is no priest, no preacher, no 
Bible, no public sentiment — is there no law of retribu- 
tion which reigns invisibly but strictly over the silence 
of the seas ? Let that solitary man indulge his appe- 
tites to an immoderate excess — gorge himself with 
food, stimulate and drown his every sense with intoxi- 
cating drink — let him do it day by day, in mad defi- 
ance of reason and experience. Is there no retribution 
:here ? The languor, the pains, the diseases which en- 
sue, are these mere accidents ? The fever which boils 
his blood, the delirium which whirls his brain, the 
agonies which rack his joints, the sleeplessness which 
holds open his aching eye, the apoplexy which termi- 
nates his life — are these matters of chance, or do they 
not betray the presence of a retributive law which ex- 
tends alike over solitude and society ? We will not re- 
hearse at this point the enactments recorded in God's 



166 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

statute-book ; nor will wo yet insist npon those declara- 
tions of tlie written volume w^hich connect sinning and 
suffering by an eternal decree ; but if any one is in- 
clined to deny the fact of retribution, let him take his 
theory and go out into the world and subject it to an 
actual test. To make the experiment satisfactory to 
the last degree, let him be sure to abstain from all acts 
which will bring him into collision with, or under the 
suspicion of, human authority. Let him trespass on no 
man's property ; defraud no man in trade ; libel no 
man's character ; commit no violence ; make no breach 
of the peace. As a member of society, be honest; but 
as a vian^ under the cover of absolute secrecy, indulge 
every appetency and propensity to the "- top of his 
bent." Think you he will not learn that there is an- 
other statute-book besides that which was written with 
pen and paper ? 

Is there no retribution besides that which is symbol- 
ized in juries and jailors, fines and imprisonments ? 
When Alexander the Great plunged in violent heat 
into the cold waters of the Cydnus, did not the illness 
which ensued inform the monarcli that there are laws 
of nature which not even a king may violate with im- 
punity ? When the same impetuous man abandoned 
liimself to debauchery within the walls of Babylon, and 
death was induced as a consequence, did not the result 
proclaim that there are certainties of nature more in- 



NATURE INFLEXIBLE. 1G7 

vincible and immovable than the far-famed ramparts of 
the city where he died ? Some of the political trea- 
tises of Thomas Paine, in point of wholesome thought, 
somid argument, felicitous manner, and vigorous style, 
are of signal merit ; but when their author abandoned 
himself to the most sensual indulgencies, wallowing in 
intemperance and licentiousness, though no political 
enactment could arrest him, and no law of the state 
could punish him, there was a stricter, juster law of 
divine retribution in that bloated face, those uncer- 
tain steps, that indistinct articulation, that entailment 
of disease, that general disgust and degradation of 
life, which repelled men from his society, making his 
former associates to flee from his company, and which 
denied his swollen and loathsome corpse a decent burial 
in a Christian graveyard. Had not his iniquity taken 
him, and was he not holden with the cords of his own 
sins ? 

Carry this theory of no retribution to a city hos- 
pital, and ask the intelligent physicians and surgeons 
who preside over its crowded wards what is their opin- 
ion concerning the existence and inflexible character 
of natural penalties. See that man writhing in agony. 
He can not suppress his frightful shrieks. Nurses 
would soothe him, surgeons would give him all the 
relief in their power. But there are penalties wliich 
can be mitigated by no skill or medication of man. 



168 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

There are consequences of sin which mercy may de- 
plore but can not remedy. Prayer does not arrest the 
march of those eternal laws which connect indissolubly 
transgression and pain. There is a power which holds 
that sufferer to his bed of anguish which no might of 
man can resist. It is not man, but God himself, by the 
ordinances of nature, who binds that evil-doer to the 
rack of torture. The sinner may repent — he may 
pray — he may reproach himself — his own mother may 
kiss him, and the minister of religion may repeat the 
promises of God relative to forgiveness — but how shall 
he escape, by any repentance, by any means, from those 
established and ordained penalties which at length 
have got hold of him, with a grip and a grasp which 
nothing can relax. Over that wretched pallet where 
the victim of a dissolute life struggles with death, you 
read, as if written with a finger of fire, that old in- 
scription which flames out from the Hebrew Scripture : 
'^ His bones are full of the sins of his youth, which 
shall lie down in the dust with him." 

If the law of retribution be so tremendous in its na- 
ture, compacted into the very structure of the human 
body — the very joints and marrow; if it be so inex- 
orable in its character, and so sweeping and inevita- 
ble in its power ; if the connection between sowing and 
reaping is in the nature of things so indissoluble ; what 
place is there for the operation of mercy, what hope of 



DELAYS AND INEQUALITIES. 1G9 

relief, even in the tender compassions and profifered 
forgiveness of the gospel ? This is a question which 
demands a solution in connection with every theory of 
man's restoration. 

Before we enter upon a reply, we wish to give a 
still fuller statement of this retributive law. Con- 
vinced that there are penalties which overtake the 
workers of iniquity, and this with a certainty and a 
steadiness which might blanch the cheek of fear ; that 
this law begins its operations with our intelligent ex- 
istence, so that the boy on the play-ground who, in the 
snapping of his marbles, or management of his games, 
practises fraud and meanness, loses the confidence of 
his mates, and is marked by them with a suspicion and 
dislike which m^ay follow him through life ; so that 
the man who plays the part of duplicity and deceit, 
if he does not come in collision with authority, cer- 
tainly deprives himself of respect, and honor, so as 
to blast his good name for ever ; while the man who 
transgresses one of nature's laws — which are God's 
laws and ordinances — is sure to have visited upon his 
own health, and body, and mind, the consequences of 
his irregularity ; while this is so obviously and undeni- 
ably, it is next to be observed that this law of retribu- 
tion, at the first, is necessarily unequal in its opera- 
tion — all sin is not rewarded immediately and visibly ; 

that many of its penalties are delayed and removed 

8 



170 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

for the present — but that the law itself is not arrested 
— when it passes beyond our sight — it keeps on and 
on in its jurisdiction, and its fullest and highest reve- 
lation is to be made in the judgment of the great day. 
Wishing and intending to lay down yet more fully the 
facts pertaining to retributive dispensation, we observe 
there are many crimes, and those of the most atrocious 
character, which are not and can not be visited with 
retribution in this present life. That kind and degree 
of retribution which by various agencies God dispenses 
in this world, was never intended to be the act and 
expression of perfect justice, but only such a measure 
thereof as is necessary for the continuance of this pres- 
ent economy — restraint and penalty sufficient to keep 
the mechanism from absolute explosion and destruc- 
tion. Human governments take cognizance only of 
those acts which threaten the objects for which human 
governments are administered, while other acts a thou- 
sandfold more culpable are of necessity referred to 
another, a future, and a higher tribunal. A single 
illustration will convey the distinction. 

A stranger alights in the city, and is imposed upon 
by a dishonest hackman, or a mock-auctioneer, or the 
skilful adept in slight of hand ; complaint is made, and 
the offender is arrested and brought under retributive 
notice. A citizen who has amassed a fortune, with 
a miserly heart suffers his own sister to pine in the 



CRIMES REFERRED. 171 

solitede of friendless penury, her life dying away, 
night and day in keenest suffering ; or his own father 
and mother, aged and infirm, are subject to neglect, 
and ingratitude, and taunts, and contempt, which eat 
into their heart like canker; and there is no tribu- 
nal beneath the sun which can arraign and punish 
that act of filial baseness. Why is this ? Surely not 
because the latter act is less criminal than the petty 
infringement of municipal enactments. But the one 
act comes within the province of the police, and the 
other does not. The one act is of that description 
which municipal governments are compelled to notice 
for their own existence and protection, and the otlier 
is not. 

The crime of the apostate Judas was not of that de- 
scription which brought it under the cognizance of the 
civil law. But a man who should trespass on his neigh- 
bor's vineyard, or suffer an ox that gored with his 
horns to go at large, was exposed immediatbiJy to judi- 
cial attention. Why ? Was the latter act more crim- 
inal than the former ? To affirm this would outrage 
all the reason and instinct of the human race. To 
protect the property and lives of man is the proper 
province of civil government ; but the breach of friend- 
ship, the violation of confidence, the mean lust for 
money, are crimes, however detestable, which must be 
referred to some other and higher tribunal. 



172 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

Will it be maintained that even these crimes of in- 
gratitude, treachery, meanness, falsehood, which can 
not come under the justice of municipal magistracy, do 
nevertheless meet with their just recompense of reward, 
and that in this present life, so that there is no need 
of a future adjudication? Are not those who perpe- 
trate them the objects of universal scorn and detesta- 
tion ? Are they not ostracized out of decent society ? 
Are they not punished to the uttermost by the loss of 
that respect and confidence which otherwise they would 
liave enjoyed ? This implies that such instances of 
fraud and unkindness are not secret, but known to 
the world in their true quality and demerit ; which is 
not in accordance with truth. There is also another 
fact which comes into view in this connection. 

The effect of crime is to diminish sensibility to crime ; 
so that as guilt increases, in that proportion conscience 
becomes obtuse, and pain and remorse are lessened. 
Shame, mortification, and remorse, are concentrated 
upon the first acts of delinquency ; but as transgression 
is repeated, and habits of evil are confirmed, sensibility 
is diminished to that degree that the more one deserves 
the less he endures. It is your bold, unblushing, hard- 
hearted guilt which has outlived the susceptibility to 
suffering. Where now is the theory of a perfect retri- 
bution in this present life ? 

We have not yet done with the statement of facts 



INSTINCT OF JUSTICE. 173 

bearing on this subject. There is an instinct in the 
human bosom — nor is this the least important of many 
facts — which anticipates the impartial and equitable 
application of retribution hereafter. I call this an in- 
stinct ; because it is not a passion for revenge, nor a 
desire for retaliation, but a conviction of justice which 
belongs to every tribe and family of man. The method 
of proving and developing it is, to suppose yourself the 
victim of the most unprovoked and intolerable outrage. 
Your confidence has been betrayed, and your affection 
wounded. You have been wronged out of your prop- 
erty ; yet in such an adroit and peculiar manner, that 
no law can reach the criminal, and your wrong must 
remain unredressed /or ever, For ever ? By no means. 
The most meek and lenient of men you may be ; but, 
apart from every vindictive sentiment, you know^ you 
feel — nor can you avoid it — that a time at length will 
come when the right will be vindicated, and the wrong 
will be punished. Mingle among men — meet them at 
the corners of the streets, as they converse about 
great injuries, and oppressions, and wrongs, to which 
they have been subject ; the theological doctrine of a 
future retribution they may never have believed ; but 
now you will see them, with a significant nod of the 
head, flying instinctively to the belief of ultimate jus- 
tice : and they and we should be ' agonized if we thought 
that this controversy between the oppressor and the o]> 



174 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

pressed would not, one day, be fully and satisfactorily 
adjusted.'* It was Mr. Jefferson, and not the chaplain 
of Congress, who on a certain occasion said in his place, 
" I tremble when I remember that God is just !" 

There can be no doubt that this law of retribution, 
w^hich comes into our sight here and there, now and 
then, in this present life, and then passes, as it were, 
under the earth and beneath the sea, will emerge again 
beyond, in its undiverted and eternal jurisdiction. At 
this point comes in the distinct announcement of revela- 
tion — ' God hath appointed a day when he shall judge 
the secrets of the heart, and render to every man ac- 
cording as his deeds have been.' The secrets of the 
heart ? Surely. If there is to be any retribution here- 
after, can you believe it to be otherwise than universal 
and impartial ? Pause and reflect. Where is the idea 
of perfect justice, if retribution be not rendered accord- 
ing to the exact demerit of each ? In the nature and 
necessity of things, human retribution is limited to overt 
acts. No such imperfection will attend the retribution 
of the Almighty ! 

Here are two men. In a sudden gust of passion, un- 
der the very highest provocation, one has thoughtlessly 
raised his hand, and the unexpected consequence is the 
loss of life under the blow. It was unpremeditated. 
It was the effect of a sudden impulse. No sooner is it 
done, than generous grief and compunction ensue. The 

^ Isaac Taylor's ^' Saturday Eveiiirig." 



REAPING AND SOWING. 175 

other marks liis victim — dogs his steps day and night; 
cool and crafty, smooth and subtle, like a poisonous 
snake, he follows the man he hates, determined to take 
his life. Opportunity does not favor, and the only rea- 
son why murder most foul is not committed is, that he is 
disappointed in the convenience of an occasion. Where 
is even the conception of impartial justice if, at the last, 
retribution overtakes the former only, and leaves the 
latter untouched ? The instincts of our nature point to 
truth ; and God has forewarned the world that he hath 
appointed the time when delays shall be prolonged no 
more — when mistakes shall be rectified, wrongs re- 
dressed, and every act and every thought, deed, and 
intention, secret and public, shall pass under retributive 
attention, without partiality and without imperfection. 
We have made no attempt to evade the unbending 
rectitude and impartiality of the retributive law. We 
have made no effort to conceal or deny those facts 
which belong to a strict interpretation of that divine 
rule, reaping according to sowing. Only a part of 
these facts have now come before us ; sufficient, how- 
ever, to convince us that there is a law of Nature, a 
law of our own being, a law of our bodies, a law of our 
minds, a law of revelation, a law of the universe, a law 
of the Most High God, which never can be interpreted 
too strictly — according to which, retribution is sure, 
sooner or later, to overtake evil-doing. The instincts 



176 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

of humanity point to it. The old Greek tragedy re- 
veals it. The Scriptures of God declare it. The word 
of the Almighty has assured us that heaven and earth 
shall pass away — sun, moon, and stars, shall fall from 
their places, like untimely figs — before that eternal 
decree of Heaven shall ever fail or falter. 

And now, in our discussion of man's redemption and 
restoration, we must honestly meet this law of Nature, 
and comprehend, if we can, how we may deliver our- 
selves from its irresistible sweep and circuit. It will 
not satisfy a thoughtful man to descant in general and 
indefinite terms on the mere goodness of the Almighty. 
Notions of that goodness, like the soft haze of a Claude 
sky, may float through the imagination of the unbeliev- 
ing ; but tell us, oh, tell us, if you can, how mercy may 
rejoice against judgment ; how men whose bodies and 
souls have experienced the evil consequences of sin — 
prodigal sons — publicans and sinners — men at the elev- 
enth hour — thieves upon the cross — brought down by 
the tyranny of sin to the very last limit and extremity 
of infamy — tell us how such, how any, can ever be 
delivered from the steady and inflexible course of that 
retributive law which compels one to cat of the fruit 
of his own ways, and be filled with his own devices ! 



X. 

RETRIBUTION AND MERCY. 

It was the object of the preceding chapter to present 
the calmest statement of those facts which reveal the 
constituted and inseparable connection between sin and 
penalty. This connection is in the order of Nature. 
So obvious is it, that there is no need of rhetoric in its 
statement. It is like the laws which govern the stars. 
Tens of thousands have gazed during the past year on 
that celestial phenomenon which veiled the face of the 
queen of Night with shadow, without reflecting, per- 
haps, upon the one fact which imparted to the incident 
its chiefest interest. It fills us with wonder to be in- 
formed that so regular and precise are the movements 
of the planetarium, that an eclipse is calculated scores 
of years before its occurrence — the very second of time 
Avhen it would commence, and the verv second when it 
would terminate ! Without the deviation of a hair's 



178 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

breadth — with the accuracy of a mathematical certain- 
ty — the result corresponds to the prediction. Yet we 
are informed, by the Author of the universe, that all 
this precision, and accuracy, and certainty of Nature, 
do but illustrate the still higher precision and certainty 
of those laws which govern his moral economy. The 
law of retribution, therefore, is no accident. The con- 
nection between sin and penalty is no peradventure. 
The relation between sowi^^' and reaping is no contin- 
gency. It is a fixed and immutable law. If it were 
not so, there were no place for faith, no foundation for 
the certainties of expectation. If the statutes of God's 
moral administration were subject to deflection and ca- 
price — if the word of yesterday was falsified by the 
event of to-day — there were room enough for conjec- 
ture and for fear, but no resting-place for rational 
confidence. 

Tlie question, therefore, arises — ' If the law of retri- 
bution, the law of sowing and reaping, be so steady and 
steadfast in its operation, how can it comport with those 
promises of mercy which form the substance of the gos- 
pel of Christ ? What place is there for the interven- 
tion of relief, without confusing or suspending the great 
laws and ordinances of the universe V Ponder the 
question honestly — ponder it well — and tell us if Rea- 
son can solve it, and Nature give it an answer ! 

The retributive law leaves no hope for the dissolute. 



NATURE UNUELENTING. 179 

It proffers no escape to those who have grown old and 
stout in the ways of sin. It is a doctrine designed to 
prevent the virtuous from lapsing into sin, but extends 
no ray of light for such as are already confirmed in 
practices of evil. If I am compelled to believe all 
which it inculcates, and nothing more^ I should be in 
despair. It may be true, but it is merciless. Not 
stricter than I would wish if I were sinless as the 
angels, and desired to be kept from falling by the high 
ramparts of fear ; but it is terrible, it is unrelenting, it 
is remorseless as the grave, to those who have fallen al- 
ready. It silences the glad tidings of the gospel — that 
gospel which Jesus Christ preached to publicans and 
sinners ; which he whispered to the dying thief on the 
cross ; which we are taught to proclaim in prisons and 
penitentiaries, to the outcast and the abject, proffering 
salvation to all men, even to the uttermost. 

It must be admitted, therefore, that it is a topic de- 
serving our most careful and earnest attention, in what 
manner may mercy be made to accord and harmonize 
with the law of retribution. 

We start, then, with admitting the retributive rule 
in its strictest interpretation — its unbending rectitude 
and impartiality. Nature and revelation agree in these 
premises. Reason and religion are here in perfect con- 
cord. '-' As a man soweth, so shall he also reap." 



b 



180 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

Whosoever addicts himself to sin shall be visited with 
the consequences of sin. The law presides over life ; 
it impeiids over the bed of death; it follows us into 
futurity. The gospel does not destroy this equitable 
ordinance. The gospel has its own penalties as well 
as the law. Whoever, under the gospel, adheres to 
habits of sin, will reap the retributive consequences of 
sin. It is in the New Testament — in the legislation 
of the Son of God, the merciful Redeemer of the world 
— that we read the fullest exposition of this natural 
and eternal enactment, reaping according to sowing. 
It is just as true to-day, just as true under the gospel, 
as it was four thousand years ago — as it was under 
a dispensation of law. There are no such threatenings 
in all the book of God as those which are uttered in 
the gospel against those who neglect, abuse, and de- 
spise the gospel. We hold to no theory of conversion, 
to no belief in divine mercy, which detracts from the 
unrelaxed severity of that rule which denounces wo on 
all those who take pleasure in, and who persist in, un- 
righteousness. We can more easily conceive of light 
without a shadow, than believe in sin unaccompanied 
by penalty. Mercy never lifts her hand to pluck down 
this high ordinance of God ; but she herself, when she 
has promised hope and relief, repeats with a new em- 
phasis the retributions which are sure to overtake such 
as obey not her suggestions. Reason and revelation 



A CHANGE IN MAN. 181 

still accord tliroughout. The two guides still walk to- 
gether side by side, hand in hand. 

But this is not all which is revealed in the gospel. 
This is not the main teaching of the gospel. This is 
not the substance of the joyful sound. The design and 
the method of mercy are to work a change in man's 
own nature, and not in the law which repays guilt with 
punitive consequences. It converts man from the evil 
of his ways. It promises him no exemption so long as 
he perseveres in forbidden courses, but helps him to 
turn from the same, so bringing him under a law of life 
and gladness. The wrath of God is revealed against 
all unrighteousness, but the gospel interposes itself to 
arrest unrighteousness in the man, and not to change 
the steadfast ordinances of the Almighty. It calls on 
the wicked man to forsake his ways, and the unright- 
eous man his thoughts. The summons of the gospel, 
rung out with a clear and clarion sound, is, " Repent 
and be converted^ Jesus Christ comes to turn every 
one from his iniquities. He that sinned is bidden 
to sin no more — for the best and greatest of rca 
sons, that love and mercy are w^aiting to deliver. We 
can not discover the passage in the gospel which prom- 
ises deliverance and exemption to sin, while sin is per- 
sisted in. We read the many passages which announce 
hope and help to the very worst, to the outcasts of 
the human species — help to the uttermost — helj) at 



182 THE GARDEN OF GETPISEMANE. 

the eleventh hour — if tlicy will repent^ if they will, 
with a thorough hatred of sin, forsake it, and reform 
of it. 

Such is the message which we bear everywhere and 
to every man. There is not a member of the human 
family to whom we would not carry these glad tidings of 
great joy. Tell us who is the guiltiest of men, and we 
will assure him, in God's name, that for him there is a 
remission of sins, if he will repent and reform. We 
go to the inmates of prison cells ; the thief in his 
meanness, the burglar in his boldness, the murderer in 
his malice ; to the most brutal of their species, in 
Christ's stead, we would bear this gospel, that for them 
there is mercy and forgiveness, if they will repent. 
We go to the bedside of the man who is just termina- 
ting a dissolute life in remorse, anguish, and despair, 
and in the name of Him who pardoned the thief upon 
the cross, in the very act and article of death, we 
would assure him that for him there is mercy if he will 
repent. If he will repent ! We shall have something 
to say before we finish as to the probabilities or im- 
probabilities of his repentance ; but there can be no 
doubt as to the nature of those terms proposed in the 
gospel — mercy to all, whenever and wherever there is 
repentance. 

What now becomes of the stern and strict law of ret- 
ribution, which, as we have seen, is so exacting and so 



EXEMPTION PARTIAL. 183 

unbending ? Is it abolished ? Abrogated ? Nay, rather 
is it confirmed. The child of guilt, through the great- 
ness of a Power which surpasses nature, is himself 
changed and converted, so that a new class of results 
follows his new class of actions. The retributive law 
keeps on in its high and changeless way, but the subject 
of it, through might higher than himself^ is changed in 
feeling, act, and character, and so is delivered from 
any further accumulation of its inflictions. His own 
present is changed, and his own future changes with it. 
Turning from a life of sin, he is exposed no more to 
the penalties of sin. 

But what for the sins which are already past ? What 
becomes of those retributions already entailed by guilty 
courses ? Does mercy arrest and suspend them at once 
upon repentance ? Not even that. Look again at that 
victim of disease who is dying in a hospital. Let us 
suppose that, on the very verge of the grave, he listens 
to the words of Christian kindness, and ingenuously 
repents before his Maker. Does mercy in an instant 
reverse or arrest or annul the law of retribution? 
Does he arise from his bed and walk as if he had 
escaped from the sheriff-grasp of retributive power? 
Does the assurance of forgiveness cool the fever in his 
bones, and serve as an opiate to that pain which is eat- 
ing into his marrow ? Does a moral medicine cure a 
physical mischief? Docs the disabled prisoner, held 



184 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

fast in the cords of liis sins, spring to his feet, running 
and leaping lil^e him who was healed in the name of 
Jesus of Nazareth, at the gate Beautiful ? Nothing of 
this. The gospel even does not promise to do this. 
The mercy which lays her balm to the broken spirit 
does not hold back that pain, that sickness, or that 
death, which are the retributive effects of former in- 
iquities. Tlie man, if he is a penitent, though he is a 
penitent, may die prematurely because of his former 
habits. The process of retribution is not delayed within 
our sight, save in regard to the remorse and anguish of 
spirit, which are soothed by the assurance of divine 
forgiveness. 

But how is it, how shall it be, beyond ? Reason tells 
us that the law keeps on, even when it passes out of 
our sight, on and on, changing all into a likeness to its 
dread self. Nature and revelation agree in the faith, 
that tribulation and anguish in the life to come are the 
penalties of transgressions unrepented of in tlie life 
which now is. Nature has no method of arresting this 
decree. Reason can not prove to us how there is any 
flaw in the chain of sequences. But what nature could 
not do, a power higher than nature can do. Whafc 
never could be accomplished by the natural, may be 
and is accomplished by the 5z/j9ernatural. The power 
which arrests and turns aside the constituted penalties 
of sin, by free remission, is as truly above and bevond 



POWER ABOVE NATURE. 185 

nature as any miracle which was ever wrought by the 
exercise of divine power. 

On one occasion a paralytic was brought to the Son 
of God, helpless upon a bed. We are not definitely 
informed that his physical malady was the result of 
sinful courses, but our Lord immediately said to him, 
" Thy sins are forgiven thee." When infidelity scoffed 
at his language he said again, " that ye may know that 
the Son of Man hath power to forgive sin," he said 
to the sick and disabled man, ^'Rise up and walk," and 
he did as he was bidden. He wrought a miracle upon 
the body in proof of his power to heal and save the 
soul beyond the ability of nature, beyond the power of 
humanity. It is a supernatural power which intervenes 
to arrest those retributive laws which would otherwise 
crush and destroy whatever is in their way. 

We perfectly agree with the deduction of Reason, 
that nature hath no mercy, no relief, no deliverance, no 
salvation for the guilty. Adhere to what the reason 
proves, and to nothing more^ and there is no hope. 
But this is the actual miracle of Christ's mercy, that 
coming to the weary and heavy laden, converting them 
from sin, turning them to newness of life, he lightens 
the penalty — lifts off by a gradual relief the curse 
and the burden, and with partial restoration now, by 
his supernatural and divine achievements, promises, for 
the life to come, entire exemption, complete and eter- 



b 



186 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

nal deliverance. This ultimate and perfected restora- 
tion of man is represented as an achievement of divine 
power greater than that Avhich made the worlds, and 
broke the bars of death. 

Here is a man who has been addicted to no habits 
which have entailed suffering and pain upon the body. 
He has not been inclined to intemperance ; he has not 
been dissolute. But he has developed a general mean- 
ness and dishonesty of character. He has done hard 
things. He has a reputation for trickiness and deceit. 
We will suppose that to such a man — even to such — 
the gospel comes with its usual terms and announce- 
ments — forgiveness, eternal life, if he repents. Let us 
suppose that he does repent ; that there is a thorough 
transformation of his nature ; that, in the school of 
Christ, he learns lessons of honesty, and truth, and no- 
bility, such as never he knew before. He is now a 
sincere Christian. Nevertheless, he is not immediately 
released from the law of retribution. For a long time 
— it may be so long as he lives — he will suffer many 
of the consequences of his former courses. He will be 
suspected. He will be distrusted. Shadows will rest 
upon him. He may, by utmost endeavor to walk con- 
sistently with his new principles, outlive these suspi- 
cions, and recover the confidence of his fellow-men. 
But it would be strange if, to his dying day, he did not 
reap many serious consequences of his earlier habits. 



BITTER MEMORIES. 187 

It is an undoubted fact that men who have been con- 
verted to God from habits of profligacy, sincere Chris- 
tians as they were, have reaped, in bitter memories, in 
impaired health, in loss of position, in social interdicts, 
suspicions, and slights, the harvest of their early and 
foolish sowing. 

If any man on this footstool of God ever gave proof 
of sincere conversion, of thorough reformation of char- 
acter, life, and conduct, it was Bunyan — it was John 
Newton. No one has read the biography of these dis- 
tinguished trophies of divine grace with any care, who 
has not observed how much, amid all the gladness and 
hopes of their new life, they suffered in body and spirit 
the consequences of their earlier irregularities. So was 
it with Augustine. The islanders of the Pacific, in the 
new hopes of the religion which has been sent to them, 
will suffer to the end of life many a sad penalty of those 
crimes which they perpetrated in the days of their hea- 
thenism and ignorance. 

When the mercy of Christ arrests and converts the 
sinner, it does not instantly arrest all the effects of an- 
tecedent sin. It changes the man, not the law of retri- 
bution. It gives him new purposes, new principles, a 
new nature, and a new character, so that he gradually 
emerges from the power and consequence of sin. And 
as for those ultimate and eternal penalties which are 
revealed against iniquity in another world, we believe 



188 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

that they arc arrested solely by supernatural power. It 
is not in man to achieve that great deliverance. It is 
not in Nature to promise it. It is not in Reason to dis- 
cover it. He who proved himself the Author of Nature 
— at whose advent the stars in their courses did hom- 
age — whose word burst the bondage of graves and 
death — whose touch wrought miracles of healing — 
and at whose expiring the sun veiled itself in gloom — 
he, the very Maker and upholder of this great system 
of Nature, with its laws and compensations, its decrees 
and its penalties — he alone is able to deliver, by a su- 
pernatural power, and for supernatural reasons, the 
soul of the sinner from the second death. 

It would detract materially from our faith and glad- 
ness if we were compelled to believe that the thief on 
the cross was taken to the paradise of God, in accord- 
ance with equitable retribution — because he was in 
heart and life a good man, and so had always been, not- 
withstanding the one accident which brought him to 
execution. We believe that he was a sinner of high 
degree ; we believe it according to his own confession : 
" We indeed suffer justly." We believe it according 
to the whole drift of the narrative, and the picture of 
the scene. We believe that he repented. We will net 
pretend to explain that repentance on principles of mere 
reason and nature : we believe that his heart was con- 
verted by the grace of God, just as his foot touched the 



MIRACLES OF MERCY. 189 

threshold of that prison from which goeth out no one 
for ever ; and we believe that, as a penitent snatched 
from the jaws of death, he was taken to the paradise 
of God by an act as truly supernatural on the part of 
our divine Eedeemer as that which arrests sun, moon, 
and stars, in their orbits. Leave us to Nature alone, 
and we are in despair. Preach to us natural laws, and 
nothing more^ and we see no hope for the guilty. We 
have what is more than Nature, what is higher and 
mightier — the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the tri- 
umphant mercy of Omnipotence. With such a help and 
such a hope, we can preach the gospel to the most aban- 
doned of men. 

It is not against God, not an " irrational and unau- 
thorized praying," when we pray for the dying sinner, 
in the eleventh hour of his probation. All things are 
possible with Him whose mercy rejoiceth against judg- 
ment. We love to rehearse the miracles of his com- 
passion — Mary Magdalen — the thief on the cross — 
the conversion of Saul — the arrest and turning about 
of the chief of sinners. We have no fear of exaggera- 
ting the power and promises of the gospel, or of trans- 
cending the bounds of soberness in describing its illim- 
itable mercy to the penitent. ''Whosoever repenteth^ 
shall be saved^ That word which came down from 
the skies is to be heralded throughout the earth, for it 
comes from One who is mighty to save. 



190 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

But does not such a doctrine foster presumption ? 
Does it not encourage to postpone repentance to the 
latest necessity ? Is not its sure and direct tendency 
to induce the thoughtless and even the profligate to per- 
sist in their ways till the last moment of opportunity, 
in the vain expectation that a miraculous exercise of 
merciful power will rescue them when about to take 
the plunge into a hidden futurity ? 

To reason thus is to leave out of account the very 
head and front of the whole matter. It is to drop the 
very chief item in the computation. The gospel of Jesus 
Christ, in all its miracles of compassion, in all its prodi- 
gies of salvation, saves no man in his sins and in his im- 
penitence. Its invariable terms to all are, salvation to 
those who repent and believe. Ah, what a world and 
weight of meaning in that small word — if he repent ! 
Ho must be a changed man who would be a saved man. 
He must be brought to know ingenuous sorrow for sin, 
and lively faith in the Redeemer, before he may appro- 
priate to himself one promise of the great salvation. If 
he repents ! Judge soberly, now, whether there be any 
encouragement to presumption and procrastination in 
any of the glorious promises of mercy, so long as they 
stand connected with the terms and condition of sin- 
cere repentance. 

Does not this very law of retribution which we have 
met, operating steadily under law and under grace, so 



MISGIVINGS. 191 

affect and visit the heart of the presumptuous, that the 
least probable thing in the universe at length may be 
that he will repent ? The law of habit, is it not a part 
of this law of retribution ? May it not so accumulate 
its powers — imbedding itself in the very foundations of 
one's nature — drawing to itself all strength from time, 
and invigorating itself with the passage of years — that 
at last the most dreadful form of retribution which can 
ever overtake man on earth is in that very hardness of 
heart which is entailed by delay, in that very impeni- 
P tence which is the response and consequence of an im- 
penitence which went before. While this is the gospel 
— salvation to the penitent^ even in death, even to the 
uttermost — does not this retributive law throw in its 
doubts, its fears, and its apprehensions, about the prob- 
ability and reality of that later and death-bed repent- 
ance ? No misgivings have we as to God's willingness 
to forgive the penitent at the very latest moment : our 
misgivings are all of this kind — whether a man who 
has lived in impenitence, through a whole life of privi- 
lege and mercy, vdll be likely to become a penitent 
after the accumulated results of life-long habit and 
delay. Not the shadow of a doubt have we that the 
mercy of God would pardon any sincere penitent, even 
L amid the convulsions and prostrations of death ; but 
■bnany a doubt have we whether he whose indisposition 
^Ko religious things has been growing and strengthening 



192 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

from youth to manhood, even to old age, will find him- 
self disposed or able, at an instant of emergency and 
fear, to counteract the adverse tendencies of his whole 
existence. Impenitence he has sown, and impenitence 
he is now reaping. Regrets, sorrows, spring unbidden 
in his bosom; but these are not repentance. These 
convulsive moments of an affrighted spirit are not that 
change in the heart itself which the gospel requires as 
indispensable. 

There is no place where this law of retribution, which 
is inwrought into our very bodies and souls, puts on so 
stern an aspect, and reveals so fearful a power, as in the 
last days of the man who, through years of God's for- 
bearance, has been practising himself in unbelief and 
confirming himself in habits of impenitence, under the 
full light and love of the gospel. God has promised 
no miracle of deliverance to the impenitent and the 
prayerless. One may fall from dizzy heights, and not 
be harmed ; one may lie down in fire, and not be 
burned ; one may be immersed in the sea, and not be 
drowned : the imagination may conceive of such mira- 
cles, but sober reason revolves the question whether, in 
the gospel itself, or in human observation, there has 
ever been discovered a promise of interposing power 
which will make it easy for one to repent who, after a 
hard and impenitent heart, has been heaping up, week 
by week, year by year, the obstacles to his own return ! 



PRESUMPTION. 193 

We have no reason for believing that the thief on the 
cross had ever heard of Christ before he Avas brought 
in contact with his mercy, in the very hour of his bitter 
passion and death. There is no parallelism between 
the quick repenting of such a man, in his first interview 
with the Redeemer, and the presumptuous expectations 
of the man who has heard of Christ from his very cra- 
dle. Yes, we will magnify the grace of our God; we 
will preach its largeness and fullness ; we will repeat 
the angel-songs of Bethlehem ; we will tell of Christ 
lifted up to draw all men unto him ; we will rehearse 
his world-wide promises of forgiveness ; we will point 
to him in the attitude of stretching out his arms to wel- 
come the weary and heavily laden ; we v/ill take the 
word which last fell from his lips, and Spirit and Bride 
will herald it everywhere — "Come^ whosoever will." 
This we will do, in solemn faith that there is no num- 
ber or aggravation of sins which outreach his power to 
save, if they are repented of and forsaken. 

But if there are any who, under sabbath skies, and 
angel voices, and gospel songs, and pleadings of mercy, 
and welcomings of love, and promises of help, and vis- 
ions of heaven, will not repent, and will not believe — 
presuming, neglecting, trifling, delaying — then must we 
warn them that, according to the unrepealed and stead- 
fast ordinance of retribution, the time will come — and 

it shall be when their need is greatest, even when tliey 

9 



194 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

arc made to look down into the grave and the terrific 
mysteries which lie beyond— when they shall be so 
besot and depressed by the very difficulties of former 
habit, that the very hardest thing to be conceived of is 
for those to pray who never prayed before — for those 
to repent who never repented before ; so that the mis- 
taken man who counted on repenting in the sudden 
emergency of fear, and necessity, and death, discovers 
when too late that all his life long he has been treasu- 
ring up wrath against himself — hardening his heart, 
so that, though he smites upon it, the rock will yield 
no tenderness. 

Little need is there, as it would seem, of caution and 
exhortation, after giving a clear and correct statement 
of the calm and steadfast ordinance of retribution. But 
when mercy and retribution are brought before us in 
their proper conjunction, the heart must be inhuman 
and the tongue speechless which would not admonish 
men to beware how they neglect so great salvation. 



XI. 

SUPERNATURAL RELIEF FOR NATURAL EVILS. 

The impression is common tliat tlie evils and pen- 
alties which follow transgression arc, in some man- 
ner, superinduced by revealed religion. Because the 
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments recognise 
and sanction such retributive consequences of sin, many- 
infer that they are responsible for them, and produce 
them, by an arbitrary decree, after such a manner, that, 
if the Scriptures had not referred to them, the penalties 
themselves would not have existed. 

It has been our endeavor, therefore, to show that the 
law of retribution is a laic of Nature. It is not in- 
duced by an arbitrary enactment. It is altogether in- 
dependent of a written revelation. The one true reli- 
gion of the world is, in no sense, responsible for it. 
The retributive consequences of evil-doing would re- 
main the same, for both worlds, if the Christian religion 



196 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

were utterly and for ever abolished. These result, as 
we say, in the nature of things. The constitution of 
the universe is arranged on the principle of rewards for 
the good and penalties for the evil. We speak now of 
what is palpable to the skeptic as to the believer in the 
gospel ; of something which is entirely distinct and dis- 
connected from faith in revealed religion. A man vio- 
lates the laws of his physical constitution, and the pen- 
alty is physical suffering, disease, and death. All the 
hospitals of the world give their proof of this. Physi- 
cians, and not preachers, are authorities and witnesses 
on this point. Man is so constituted, that this ]*esult 
is inevitable. It is an ordinance of Nature, which is 
unaffected by belief or unbelief. 

Man is a member of society, and, as such, comes in 
contact with social laws. These may be of various de- 
grees of excellence, but society can not exist without 
some law. Transgress these enactments of society, and 
the penalty is fine, imprisonment, transportation, the 
gallows. These are facts in the history of humanity, 
and not theories of political economists — facts which 
we should encounter did we travel to the ends of the 
eaxth, even if there were no such thing in existence as 
a written revelation from God. 

So of that highest of all laws, the spiritual — it is 
founded in the very nature of that relation which sub- 



NATURE AND SCRIPTURE. 197 

sists between God as Creator and man as a creature — 
between infinite excellence and finite dependence. Ho 
who breaks away from this law of duty, must, in the 
nature of things, separate himself from God, lose the 
sense of God's favor, and incur the sense of God's dis- 
pleasure. We can not conceive that it could be other- 
wise. It is not the written law which produces this 
separation, or enacts this penalty. The entire volume 
of inspiration recognises this potialty, and justifies it, 
but never creates it in such a sense that, if it were 
not written therein, " The soul that sinneth, it shall 
die," that result would not come to pass. It would 
come to pass, as we believe, by the natural course of 
things, in accordance with the eternal constitution of 
the universe. That men should be punished for the 
infringement of those ordinances which govern their 
physical, social, and moral nature, there is no necessity 
of special legislation. All that is requisite is, that 
thini>:s should be left to their natural course. It is not 
because it is written in this volume that woes, and pains, 
and shame, and poverty, are the retribution of idleness, 
intemperance, and dissolute habits, that these results 
come to pass ; but this is written because they do come 
to pass — because it is an indisputable fact in Nature 
that such results proceed from such causes. 

Beyond all dispute, this is the teaching of Nature. 
This is the laiu of God's created system, ordained when 



198 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

the foundations of the world were laid. Written laws 
may announce this fact, but they do not originate it. 
The fact, as a stern verity of Nature, exists where there 
is no written revelation. If every verse, every line, 
every word, in the entire volume of inspiration, which 
alludes to retribution in this life or the life to come, 
were expunged, it would be no less true, while the sys- 
tem of Nature is undisturbed, that the violation of her 
ordinances will be visited by her own retributions. 
That men should suffer in consequence of sin — suffer 
in health, if they transgress physical laws — in reputa- 
tion, if they transgress social laws — in remorse, and 
exile from God, if they transgress spiritual laws — 
nothing needs to be enacted, nothing whatever to be 
done. Let the natural course of things be uninterrujDt- 
ed, and these results are certain. Fire is sure to burn, 
if it have its way. Nothing new, nothing whatever is 
to be done to make certain this result. To prevent that 
result requires some positive interposition, something 
which will arrest the natural law. 

Nature has many wonderful provisions and compen- 
sations, but, if we will carefully observe, not one by 
way of arresting the law of retribution. If one of the 
senses be lost, there is a most kind and compensatory 
action of Nature by which every other sense seems to 
be quickened and endowed for tlie emergency. If a 
joint be removed by a su^gicaJ operation, there appears 



REVERSAL OF TERMS. 199 

at once a new energy of Nature to supply the deficiency 
by some provision of her own. Nothing like this ap- 
pears in Nature to prevent the retributive consequences 
of sin ; nothing like a relaxing or letting up of her own 
ordinances in the case of such as do evil. This it is 
which makes the religion of Nature the most stern and 
relentless for all but the innocent. The common im- 
pression is the reverse of this. 

Many associate the religion of Nature with flowers, 
and birds, and stars — with blossomings of trees and 
exuberance of fruits. These, indeed, are facts of Na- 
ture, but they are not the only facts. These are the 
facts which teach us the care and kindness of the Great 
Author of Nature toward all his creatures. Beside 
these are those other facts — the pains, the maladies, 
the woes, of all descriptions, that follow evil courses — 
which attest that the Being who made man and the 
world intended that sin should be visited by retribution. 
For innocence, for misfortune, for mere accident — if 
we may use such a word when speaking of Providence 
— there are compensations, and reliefs, and extempore 
provisions ; but, for guilt. Nature has no relief and no 
remedy! Egregiously mistaken are such as eulogize 
natural religion in opposition to that which is revealed 
— as if the one spoke only in bloom and beauty, and 
the other in tones of terror and denunciation. The 
terms of this common conception should be reversed 



200 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

entirely and altogether. It is natural religion, unac- 
companied by any revelation of positive relief, which is 
terrible — terrible and unrelenting to the last degree-- 
to the guilty ; while the peculiarity of revelation is, as 
its name imports, that it makes knoivn the fact of some- 
what interposed and novel. 

If you would kill out all hope from the heart of the 
guilty, leave them alone. Leave them to the religion of 
Nature. Leave them to the natural result of things^ 
to eat of the fruit of their own ways, and be filled with 
their own devices. If you would overw^helm, crush^ 
and ruin the guilty, leave them to themselves. Do 
nothing. Enact nothing. No need of laws to con- 
demn them. No need of menaces and statute penal- 
ties. Withdraw thyself and leave them to the steady, 
changeless, relentless order of Nature ! But if you 
would save them, something must be interposed. Some 
arrest must be laid upon the tendencies and workings 
of Nature. If you would deliver and restore such as 
have violated the eternal ordinances of Nature, tlien 
something positive is to be done suited to the emer- 
gency. Now we look for something which is more than 
Nature — above and beyond Nature. There must be a 
stoppage of the natural order of things — some new and 
positive measure introduced. 

And this, precisely, is what is done by the gospel of 
Jesus Christ. Tlio very word announces the character 



201 

of the measure. It is " news," " good news," " glad 
tidings of great joy." It is something out of the ordi- 
nary and constituted channel of things. It was not de- 
veloped by nature, but revealed directly from heaven. 
It is something brought— something g™ii?e^ — something 
interposed. It was announced by angels — it was fully 
accomplished by the Son of God. Many have endeav- 
ored to reason that Christianity was a mere subjective 
hypothesis of the human mind ; a product and fabrica- 
tion of man's own nature ; but just this is the peculi- 
arity of the gospel, a positive gift and interposition 
of the Most High. To punish those who had made in- 
fraction of God's law, nothing unusual — nothing out 
of the ordinary course of things was necessary ; but to 
save from punishment, to restore and retrieve, redeem 
and deliver, required what v*^as extraordinary and pre- 
ternatural. This is what the gospel actually promises 
and accomplishes. This is the sole object and design of 
the gospel. It does this, and nothing but this. It saves 
— it does not punish. Jesus Christ came not to condemn 
the world, but to deliver. Condemnation was already. 
Suffering existed already. Some of the evil conse- 
quences of transgression already abounded ; and these 
foreshadowed other retributions future and inevitable. 
There was no need of anything further being accom- 
plished by way of insuring punitive judgment. That 

had long since begun its drear and immitigable course. 

9* 



202 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

The gospel was a measure of relief — a stay of proceed- 
ings — an arrest of sentence — a suspension of the nat- 
ural process, by adequate help. It has itself no more 
to do by way of accounting for the sins and sufferings 
of mankind than medicines and hospitals are responsi- 
ble for those diseases which they design to cure. A 
pardon does not create the penalty which it remits. 

There is but one aspect, one object in the gospel of 
our Lord — to relieve from evils already existing — de- 
liver from woes which without it would have been un- 
checked and unmitigated. Not only is this the sole 
and exclusive object of the gospel, but besides the gos- 
pel there is nothing which promises to do the same. 
Oruel are they who would give us only the creed of 
nature. Merciless is that religion which deals only 
with natural laws ; for while it sometimes discourses of 
the birds of the air, and the lilies of tlie fields, nay, 
while it always discourses in images of beauty and 
tones of gladness to the good and innocent, it has woes 
in reserve for the guilty, from which they can not escape, 
as they can not fly from the eternal laws which bind 
the universe ; and if you take away that supernatural 
revelation of interposed relief, nothing remains but a 
certain looking for of judgment in accordance with 
those ordinances which otherwise never are diverted. 

Let us, therefore, look aAvliilo at the operation of 
this curative agency upon existing evils. We have 



CALAMITIES AND GRIEFS. 203 

already considered at considerable length the manner 
in which the gospel of Christ applies its superabound- 
ing mercy for the remission of sin. Let us not overlook 
its method of relief for other necessities of humanity. 

Men everywhere are exposed to calamity and grief. 
Troubles beset man, cares depress him, and sorrow bur- 
dens him. It' has been so in all ages, since fallen 
Adam wept over the corpse of Abel. Marble philoso- 
phy affirms that these misfortunes are the result of fixed 
ordinances of nature which may not be changed. It is 
a subject on Avhich the writers of classic antiquity des- 
canted much. We have on record the plaintive letter 
of the great Roman orator on the death of his own 
daughter TuUia. In his correspondence with a friend, 
he lays open his whole heart, under the visitations of 
sorrow. He travels. He visits foreign scenes. He 
seeks to divert his mind from the affliction on which it 
preys. Here is a deep and irremediable sorrow ; and 
the only relief which nature can promise is that time 
will gently and gradually mitigate the grief. Ye who 
mourn the loss of your best friends, tell us whether you 
will accept that consolation which springs from forget- 
fulness. Judge ye that the time will ever come wlien 
you will wish to think less, to mourn less, than now, 
over the graves where sleep the forms most endeared 
to you ? These bereavements are abroad in the world, 
in all places and in all forms. Explain them, account 



204 THE GARDEN OP GETHSEMANE. 

for them, as you may. Call them accidents. Call 
them misfortunes. Call them fatalities. Reason your- 
self into stoicism. Persuade yourself that these are in- 
evitable events, and that you can not escape the com- 
mon lot of humanity. In this you are in part correct. 
The gospel promises no exemption from them. But it 
accomplishes more than this. It consoles. It cures. 
Like an angel-form brightening through the gloom, it 
brings a balm to the wound. Cold Philosophy passes 
by on the other side, or if she speaks to the sufferer she 
says, in stately speech, " Be strong^ and bear it luell.'^^ 
" Be brave." " Be a man." The religion of the Re- 
deemer introduces a positive cure. It binds up the 
wound, pouring in oil and wine. It explains to man 
the meaning of afflictions, the source from Avhicli they 
come, the wisdom and love of an overruling Provi- 
dence, the benefits which flow from them, the repose of 
faith, the sweetness of resignation, the brightness of 
hope, and the certainty of that future state where all 
troubles shall cease, where friends separated by death 
shall meet again, where joy perpetual and unblightcd 
shall succeed sorrow, and tears shall be wiped away 
from every eye. This is a positive, extraordinary, and 
supernatural revelation. The evil is, as we say, natural 
— the consolation is above Nature, it is a divine inter- 
position. Nature affirms, and facts echo it, '' In the 
world ye shall have tribulation." But Christianity, by 



DEATH A FACT. 205 

the mouth of her Lord, answers, " Be of good cheer, I 
have overcome the world." 

Then comes that grand catastrophe death ^ that mys- 
tery, that shame, that terror, that abhorrence of human- 
ity. We need no proof of the fact that man dies — that 
all men die. The learned reason that death is in ac- 
cordance with a natural law; that men are made to 
die, as trees have their time to grow, decay, and fall. 
We believe, though there may have been death in 
the animal creation before man was made, that death 
passes upon all men because all have sinned. The 
knowledge which we derive from revelation on this 
point, however, has nothing whatever to do with the 
resistless power and certainty of death. Death would 
be no less inevitable if we did not know under what 
circumstances, in what connection, it invaded the world. 
Before revelation, without revelation, in ages past, in 
all ages, and in all lands, the destroyer is busy at his 
wort Call it a law of Nature or what you will, the 
drear and dreadful fact is the same. That man should 
die, tlkcre is no necessity that anything should be done. 
The ordinary and changeless course of the human race 
is to the grave. Generation after generation follow 
entah dt'-.er thitherward. A skeleton hand points the 
I>rocession of the ages to one and the same spot — the 
sepulchre. There is no turning back, or turning aside, 
t'O as not to enter that door of gloom. This is an inev 



206 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

itable certainty of Nature. That man should die — die 
with fear, die without hope, die in mystery — to make 
sure of this result, leave them as they are. Reveal 
nothing, interpose nothing ; leave the race with solemn 
and sullen march and dejected face, to their destiny. 

But if you would mitigate this great evil, if you 
would redeem man from its power, if you would arrest 
and change all these affrights and despondencies of na- 
ture, then somewhat which is preternatural and ex- 
traordinary must be brought into operation. And this 
is the very object and effect of the gospel. It comes to 
change the whole aspect of death, reigning witjjj^tepror 
from the sin of Adam down to the birth of the Re- 
deemer. This celestial visitant, like the shining angel 
in the tomb of Jesus, takes her stand at the door of the 
sepulchre, and the light she bears shines far within, 
yea, entirely through the dark valley. 

As revealed religion did not produce death, nor in- 
flict it, but fmds it as a fact already existing, so all ili 
extraordinary power is applied, not to prevent death, 
but so to change its whole aspect and quality, thot the 
curse shall be converted into a blessing, and m^n may 
be more than willing, even glad to die. It is the gos- 
pel which extracts the sting of death, depriving it of 
all power to harm the feeblest believer. To all in- 
tents, death is actually abolished. By a divine revela- 
tion we are assured that death is not the destruction of 



POSITIVE HELP. 207 

humanity. Life and immortality are brought to light 
in the gospel. The body itself shall be raised again, 
and, perfected and refined itself, shall be conjoined to a 
refined and perfected spirit. In proof and promise of 
this great achievement, the Son of God himself became 
subject unto death, and rose again from its power. The 
one sweeping fact of mortality is confronted by another 
fact, extraordinary and miraculous, the resurrection of 
Jesus Christ from the dead. Here is positive help and 
hope for man, under the most abhorrent event which Na- 
ture knows. It is consolation imparted in reference to 
a pre- -existing evil. Prom being the ghastly King of 
Terrors, striking down the helpless into the dust, and 
trampling upon humanity with his iron heel. Death, by 
tha intervention of the Redeemer, is converted into a 
minister of mercy — unclothing the child of God, that 
he may be clothed upon with his house which is from 
heaven. How soft and grateful the light which it 
sheds on the grave ! It is not the Jack-o'-lantern of 
superstition which flits and flickers there. It is the 
halo of hope — the reflection of heaven's own peace and 
repose. 

Surely we need not pause to furnish proof that the 
gosp3l is in fact equal to all these promises. The proof 
is present to us in the memory of those who have died 
from our own homes, and from out of our own arms. 
There is nothing which interests us more than accounts 



!208 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

whicli reach us of the safe and victorious death of oth- 
ers, even though they are strangers to us. Our com- 
mon nature is putting to the test this heaven-descended 
and supernatural Helper. Afflicted humanity, doomed 
to the grave, is believing and trying that miraculous 
support which is revealed from God by our Redeemer. 
Thus might we proceed to illustrate the same aspect 
of the gospel toward other objects, and other evils, as 
the extraordinary method of their relief or removal. 
Write the history of all those mischiefs which came in 
with the apostacy. Descant on the great law of cause 
and effect. Prove to us that this long series of events 
is bound together by a natural order and necessity. 
We will not dispute it ; we believe it ourselves. And 
we wish you to believe that, according to the natural 
order of events, there is nothing, there can be nothing, 
but suffering and misery in the track and train of sin. 
There is no danger, even as it has been affirmed l)y 
those who have little faith in divine revelation, of inter- 
preting this retributive law too strictly or too severely. 
But the main thing we would receive, and that with 
joy, is the announcement by our Divine Restorer that 
his help is out of and above the ordinary drift and di- 
rection of things — a supernatural and miraculous inter- 
position, so extraordinary, so joyful, that angels are 
sent to herald it, and the rocks and the floods are in- 
voked to sing and clap their hands for the gladness and 



SPECIAL INTERPOSITION. 209 

greatness of the tidings! Labor — hard, sweating, 
drudging labor — came with the curse. The gospel 
finds this depressing and crushing load, and offers to 
lighten it. It converts labor into genial work, inspires 
industry with reward and satisfaction, and teaches man 
to sing at his toil. 

The principle is the same in all cases — in regard to 
all causes which tend to afflict, burden, and depress 
mankind. These are all the natural and constituted 
penalties of apostacy. The religion of Christ is not 
responsible for them, any more than is infidelity. They 
exist ; they could not but exist in a state of things such 
as Grod has ordained. The gospel of the Redeemer has 
but one design — to interpose a special and extraordi- 
nary help and cure. It finds the prisoner in his cell, 
and comes to throw open the door. It finds the eye of 
the blind shut in night, and pours light upon the sight- 
less eyeball. The ear of the deaf is shut already, and 
the gospel utters its " ephphatha .'" — be opened ! The 
mind of the imbecile is sunk into idiocy, and Christ the 
Divine Restorer strengthens the enfeebled understand- 
ing and endows it with the capacity of knowledge. 
Multitudes are broken-hearted and mourning, and Christ 
brings them the oil of joy and the garment of praise. 
The world is under the curse and condemnation of sin, 
and the gospel proclaims forgiveness and salvation. 

What, now, if this extraordinary relief were witli- 



210 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

held? What if all the assertions of infidelity were 
true, so that we could not believe in the gospel of the 
Redeemer ? What if every copy of the Scriptures were 
withdrawn from the world, every communion-table for- 
saken, every Christian assembly disbanded? What if, 
with common consent, the human race should be con- 
verted into atheists, and there were no sabbath, and all 
knowledge of Christ and his redemption should depart, 
like the lost Pleiad ? Would one of the evils of the 
world go with it ? Not one ! How have you benefited 
the race, by removing that which promises relief — 
which has no other object or purpose than to cure evils 
which existed before, and exist without it ? You take 
away the physician, and leave the disease ! You deny 
the exercise of mercy, and leave the curse unmitigated ! 
Grant everything which the boldest infidelity has 
ever asserted; admit that Voltaire, when he scoffed at 
Christ — Hume, when he argued against the miracles 
of our Lord— Strauss, when he philosophized away the 
historic facts of redemption ; admit, for one blank in- 
stant of time that they were all true — what have you 
gained ? You are thorough infidels ; but infidels con- 
cerning what ? Concerning the gospel which proposes 
to relieve and restore. But what concerning those 
great facts which entail suffering and misery upon hu- 
manity ? This is the main thing. We will speak of 
the gospel afterward. The evils themselves, does infi- 



INFIDELITY IS NEGATION. 211 

dclity suspend them, arrest them, change them, prevent 
them ? If not, what is its advantage ? It takes away 
Christ, but leaves sin. It forbids the remedy, but leaves 
the leprosy burning like fire into flesh and bones. It 
takes away the gospel, and leaves the stern facts and 
realities of Nature. Sorrow, affliction, remorse, sweat, 
labor, sickness, bereavement, death — it leaves them all 
in the world ! It extinguishes no evil, wipes no tear, 
imparts no comfort ; and hence it is that, granting all 
that infidelity ever claimed, it disbelieves nothing but 
the remedy, and leaves man to be broken and crushed 
by those great laws and facts of Nature which roll over 
him more resistless than the mighty wheels which Eze- 
kiel saw in his vision at Chebar. 

If any man disbelieves the gospel of Christ, the only 
result is, that he leaves himself in that very state in 
which he was without the gospel. Infidelity is a mere 
negation. It does not pretend to supply the place 
which it has vacated. It takes away the Saviour who 
was born in Bethlehem, but does it substitute a better ? 
It leaves man to suffer, sorrow, weep, and die, uncon- 
soled, unhelped, uncheered, and unblessed ! 

Leaves him as before, did we say ? With one grave 
supplement of misery ! The disease is exasperated when 
remedies are rejected ; and the infatuation which refuses 
the friendly offices of the Redeemer, can only treasure 
up and aggravate the miseries of remorse. 



212 THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 

There is no otlicr Saviour than he whom angels an- 
nounced ; there is no other gospel than that which was 
preached by the Son of God. We know not where to 
find any other consolation than that revealed to us from 
on high. Ask us not to part with it till you have cer- 
tified to that which is better. This has proved itself 
divine by the miracle of its cures, the wonders of its 
conversions, the prodigies of its saving power. Our grat- 
itude kindles anew at the tidings. Let us sing for joy, 
because of what it promises. In sorrow, let us make 
it our refuge ; in fear, our trust ; in life, our help ; in 
death, our hope and eternal salvation ! 



THE PAIIABISE OF GOD. 



[ 



Then said the shepherds one to another, Let us here show the pil- 
grims the gates of the Celestial City, if they have skill to look through 
our perspective-glass. The pilgrims lovingly .accepted the rao^icr * so 
they kd them to the top of a high hill, called Clear, and gave them the 
glas5 to look. 

They thought they saw something like the gate, and also some of the 
glory of the place. 

Pilgrim's Progress. 



XII. 

THE CELESTIAL PARADISE. 

Yeaks ago, tliere was in your dwelling a young cliild 
of surpassing beauty and loveliness. Its gleesomo voice 
was music to your ear, and its graceful motions were 
music to your eye. Perfect in the moulding of its form 
and the finish of its features, full of love and full of joy, 
it seemed like a vision of light from the skies. Disease 
touched it, and it withered in a night. It died, and 
was buried. Though you would have given it all which 
you had in the world, the only thing which you could 
give it was a grave. You chose the spot, and raised 
some simple memorial, bearing its name, a sculptured 
flower or lamb, or other emblem of its innocence and 
frailty. It has gone from you for ever. " Where has 
it gone ?" Months and years elapse. Now and then 
you come upon some object in your home which, asso- 
ciated with him, brings him before you as if he were 



216 PARADISE. 

alive again — a toy, or a little shoe. You take it in 
your hand, and ask again : ' Where, where is my child ? 
He is gone ; but ivhere has he gone ? I can not believe 
that he has perished. Are we not living under a sys- 
tem of divine restoration ? Did not the Redeemer of 
the world place the highest value on the life of a child ? 
Did he not connect infancy with the kingdom of heaven ? 
Wliere is that kingdom ? What is that kingdom ? I 
read of it — I hear of it; 1 see it not as yet, but I 
know there must be some other world than this, in 
which life, so abruptly terminated here, is resumed, re- 
newed, and perpetuated. Nature suffers nothing to be 
wasted. She is the greatest economist. The very 
fragments are gathered, that nothing may be lost. 
Forms change, but substances never perish out of tlie 
universe ; and the soul which God created, and Christ 
redeemed, must be living still, though withdrawn from 
my sight.' 

There was a man in the maturity of his ample facul- 
ties. His youth had been one of irreligion and folly. 
By the grace of Jesus Christ, he had been thoroughly 
converted. He begins a new life, with higher aims 
and nobler ends. He has just discovered the value of 
existence. His mind thirsts for knowledge, and his 
heart for goodness. He starts on a career of Christian 
usefulness. He is a living proof and demonstration of 
Christ's competency to redeem and restore. His speech, 



PLEDGE OP THE FUTURE. 217 

his daily conduct, his sweetness of temper, his religious 
living, are objects of notice and admiration. He is a 
model of Christian character. Just as he reaches this 
degree of ripeness, this promise and preparation for 
true living. Death strikes him, and he falls. " Where- 
fore is this waste ?" we are ready to exclaim. ' Is this 
the end of all the expense which has been bestowed 
upon his redemption ? Was it for these few days of 
imperfect happiness upon the earth that the Son of 
God consented to pay so great a ransom ? Is this the 
end of that travail of Christ's soul, with which he is 
satisfied — that a man should be converted, know in 
part, be sanctified in part, and then perish for ever V 
The absurdity of such an idea makes us impatient of 
its presence. That restorative process which our Re- 
deemer begins on earth is a pledge of its consummation 
in another life. That which we see of Christian good- 
ness here is but the promise of its ultimate perfection 
hcreaft<3r. 

Where have they gone — the good, the redeemed ? To 
THE Paradise op God. Redemption has its beginning 
here, but not its end. There is another world in which 
are gathered the perfected results of that great restora- 
tion which is by Jesus Christ. Here he calls, he justi- 
fies, he sanctifies ; but there he glorifies. A great thing 
is that which he accomplishes on the earth, when ho 

delivers man from the power of sin and death, gives 

10 



218 PARADISE. 

him peace of conscience, restores some measure of con- 
fidence and love, implants new principles in his soul, 
and brings him under the power of hope. But a greater 
still is that which to us is yet future, when restoration 
is complete, every vestige of the curse removed, and 
redeemed man is put in possession of a greater good 
than was ever lost in Eden. 

Far more has Christ accomplished for man than if, 
in the gorgeous East — "in Persia, Araby, or Ind" — 
he had planted another garden like that which was the 
home of the first pair, and, forgiving and forgetting all 
that was past, had placed man therein, innocent and 
happy, with eternal well-being suspended upon his con- 
tinuance. Would you count it a joyful thing if prime- 
val paradise could be restored, and you, in person, were 
to partake of its bliss ? More than this is actually true. 
There is a celestial paradise better than all the glories 
of Eden. We are not bidden to look backward, with 
sighs and regrets ; but to look forward, with joyful hope 
and expectation. 

The heavenly Paradise is not a myth nor a fancy. 
Like Eden and Gethsemane, it is an historical reality. 
When the Son of God was ready to expire, he said to 
the penitent malefactor at his side, " To-day shalt thou 
be with me iiL Paradise J^ Favored of God, witli spe« 
cial encouragements amid his extraordinary endurances, 
the apostle to the Gentiles was once caui^ht up into Par- 



ULTIMATE PERFECTION. 219 

adise, and in the third heavens of delight heard voices 
of gladness such as never before had fallen on a mortal's 
ear ; and the promise has gone forth from the mouth of 
our Lord that whoever shall overcome, continuing to 
the end, shall " eat of the tree of life which is in the 
Paradise of God." 

Into this enclosure we are now to enter. From 
the garden of apostacy, and the garden of atoning 
sorrow, we pass to that garden of restoration, where 
redeemed man finds his ultimate security and bles- 
sedness. It is not on the earth. No mortal eye 
hath seen it. We will indulge in no curious specu- 
lations concerning its topography or material. The 
Holy Ghost has employed a great variety of imagery to 
describe that abode of consummate perfection. Now 
wo arc told of " green pastures" and '' still waters" — 
tlij sweet river of the water of life — with trees on 
either side bearing all manner of fruits, and in the 
midst of the garden that tree of life once forfeited and 
now restored, with no interdict upon its fruition, no 
flaming sword deterring approach, but God himself in- 
viting to the free use of that fruit which insureth im- 
mortality. In tliat pleasant abode there is no night, 
— Ilie sun withdrawing not itself — rest without sleep, 
repose without peril, activity without exhaustion. 

Now again we read of the city of God, lustrous 
with gold and precious stones, with walls, and gates. 



220 PARADISE. 

and streets, and thrones, and temples, and worship. 
Enough to be assured that there is in reserve for 
every follower of Christ a state of absolute perfec- 
tion, where the work of redemption finds its joy- 
ful completion. The pleasant occupation to which 
we arc now invited is to rehearse the several facts 
which Revelation has communicated concerning that 
future condition of redeemed and restored humanity. 
We shall indulge in no conjectures ; introduce no hy- 
pothesis, but confine ourselves most rigidly to the nar- 
ration of those sober realities which the Redeemer of 
man has himself authenticated. 

Redeemed man shall then attain the perfection of his 
nature — perfection absolute and entire. He will be 
made perfect in body. Paradise is not the abode of 
ethereal essences. The promise of redemption relates 
not to the disembodied spirit, but to our hiimanity^ and 
this is composed of body and spirit. Christ, the God- 
man, ascended to the skies with a body. "When he was 
upon the earth, he was once transfigured in person, his 
human forai becoming invested with superhuman bright- 
ness, that he might reveal to the few disciples who were 
privileged to stand with him on Tabor, some glimpses 
of man's glorified personality. And the promise is that 
every redeemed man shall hereafter possess a body like 
unto Christ's glorious body. It is called a spiritual 
body. Not that it is intangible, impalpable, and invis- 



A SPIRITUAL BODY. 221 

ible, as spirit. But so refined is it from all grossness, 
endowed with sucli power and life, that no word could 
so well express its quality as that which God has cho- 
sen and employed — a spiriiual body. 

A body is essential to our personality. We have seen 
what skill the Almighty expended on its construction. 
We have endeavored to imagine what was its beauty 
when first it was fashioned by the Creator. We have 
seen as well what effects have been produced upon it 
by transgression. What deformities, what pains, what 
diseases, what infirmities, came in with sin. We have 
seen what marks and havoc are entailed upon the hu- 
man body by the law of retribution. It is doomed to 
death and the grave. It was not the body which was 
the cause or occasion of sin ; it was man who sinned, 
body and soul, one indivisible person ; and it is to that 
personality, redeemed from sin and death by the Son 
of God, that the promise is made of future perfection 
and immortality. When the Redeemer assumed our 
nature — a body like our own — when he shared in its 
infirmities, when he bore it upward on his ascension, he 
gave a pledge that the bodies of those who believe in 
him should participate in his Eedemption. 

We broach no novel theory concerning the powers 
of that renovated and perfected body. We are assured 
ihat it will have no inordinate appetite, no law in its 
r/i^mbers warring against the law in the mind. It will 



222 PARADISE. 

not depress or burden the spirit. Nor does this ab- 
sence of qualities fully describe it. It has positive at- 
tributes. It is endowed with power, with honor, with 
strength, with incorruption, with glory. Imagine it 
not inert, the passive instrument of its spiritual tenant ; 
for if there be enjoyment now in any sense, if the eye 
finds delight in objects of vision, if the ear experiences 
pleasure in sound, and the limbs in motion, think not that 
pleasure will be lessened when the glorified body shall 
enter upon that new abode which Christ hath prepared 
for the redeemed, with visions, and music, and activi- 
ties, proportioned to its renovated and immortal powers. 
If the Creator rejoiced over man when he fashioned 
him out of the dust, moulding his form, and vitalizing 
it with his own breath, how much more shall Christ be 
gladdened when attended by those whom he hath ran- 
somed from death and the grave, and clothed with 
beauty, health, vigor, and immortality. The death of 
the body was a consequence of sin. A body that can 
not die is the gift of the Redeemer. Bear it gently, 
though it must be sorrowfully, yet meekly and hope- 
fully, the body from which life has departed ; bear it 
to its resting-place ; this is not the defeat and frustra- 
tion of the Redeemer's work, for that which you sow in 
the ground is the germ of immortal perfection. The 
resurrection of the dead is the promise not of nature 
but of Redemption. 



REDEEMED MIND. 223 

The faculty of intelligencej of knowing and reason- 
ing, was an original endowment of our nature. Sin 
entered, and the mind of man was dimmed and dark- 
ened. Ignorance and superstition have blurred and 
beclouded the human soul. The rays of truth, entering 
this dense and opaque medium, have been refracted. 
The whole tendency of ruined mind has been toward 
ignorance and debasement. Men like not to retain the 
knowledge of God and of truth in their minds. They 
w^ill not come to the light. They love darkness rather 
than light. Such is the mournful verdict which inspi- 
ration has pronounced upon humanity — the image of 
God at first — in its apostate state. The Redeemer 
comes to restore this image, well-nigh effaced. He 
sheds light on the darkened mind ; imparts to it a rel- 
ish for know^ledge, a taste for truth ; and gives to man's 
intellectual being an ascendency over the earthly and 
sensual. This result of redemption is but partial and 
incomplete in the present life. The child of God sees 
through a glass darkly. The eye of the blind is opened, 
but it sees imperfectly — even men as trees walking. 
The mind, in its process of restoration, is perplexed by 
many consequences of the apostacy. Prejudices per- 
vert the truth, and truth is acquired by the hardest — 
even by effort, by care, by reasoning, and by inference. 

Out of this imperfect condition redeemed mind is to 
be recovered entirely. Somcthin.^ more than deliver- 



224 PARADISE. 

ance from ignorance, from blanknoss and vacuity, is 
promised. Man, a living soul at the beginning, shall 
be God's perfected likeness at the end. Little short 
of intuitive knowledge appears to be promised in those 
words : We shall knoiu even as lue are knoicn, Witli- 
out pressing them beyond their truthful import, sc 
much is certainly conveyed by the promise : the clear 
and honest intelligence of man shall answer unto the 
intelligence of God. There shall be no refraction, but 
a perfect reflection of the light and truth. The pro- 
cess of intellectual recovery which began when Christ 
applied his sovereign eye-salve, shall be perfected in 
that future state where the last film of darkness shall 
be removed, the last veil of ignorance withdrawn, and 
the ransomed mind shall see '' face to face," in the im- 
mediate and intuitive perception of unmixed and un- 
clouded truth. 

Most of all, and greatest of all, man's moral nature 
is restored hereafter to an absolute perfection. It was 
here that defection began ; not in man's reason, not in 
his body, but in his free-will. His affections have been 
perverted, his likings and dislikings have not been in 
accordance with what was right and good. We have 
studied that wonderful method by which God designs 
to recover man's alienated affections ; not by wrath, 
not by menace, not by authority, not by fear — but by 
the expression of his own love in tlie life and dcatli 



MORAL PERFECTION. 225 

of his Son. This is the method of man's change and 
recovery. 

Restoration begins where began the malady. But 
there is no promise of its completion in this present life. 
It goes on, but it is not consummated. Various metli- 
ods are employed by God for its advancement. Some- 
times bitter medicines are needful for the cure ; some- 
times severe surgery and painful amputations. Affec- 
tions become detached from objects to which they have 
clung with idolatry, by a friendly force. The Spirit 
of God applies its curative help. By little and little, 
by this method and by that, the enfeebled will becomes 
vitalized with new strength, and the new man is devel- 
oped out of the old. The believer in Christ is re- 
deemed, is regenerated, but he is not restored. Life 
has begun, and that is great ; but it is not yet perfected, 
which is the greatest. Goodness in this life is the re- 
sult of effort, and care, and vigilance. What is gained 
is retained with difficulty. The new contends against 
the old. That long strife at last will end in complete 
victory. The will^ now inclined to evil, w411 be dis- 
posed only to good, and the soul at last is for ever de- 
livered from the bondage of sin. 

To say that redeemed man will be as holy in the sec- 
ond Paradise as was man in the first, seems to be but a 
faint expression of that great promise which pertains to 

the ultimate perfection of humanity. He shall be holy 

10" 



226 PARADISE. 

as God is holy. Truly, literally, shall it be so. Hard 
may it be for you, disciple of Christ, even to conceive 
of such a result, amid the fears, struggles, and de- 
spondencies, of your probationary life. But nothing 
short of this would meet the wish or promise of the 
Redeemer. You must strive to rise up to the great 
idea, absolute holiness — duty without reluctance, obe- 
dience without defect, affection without reserve, grati- 
tude without alloy, the conscious doing of what is riglit 
without any sense of imperfection. Judge not that the 
conversion and partial sanctification of man — great as 
is that achievement — is the full result which Christ 
contemplates in redemption. He turns not from that 
which he begins till it is amply and for ever completed. 
He intends that every one who believes on him shall 
hereafter be with him and like him, sharing in his own 
immaculate holiness, and resplendent as a star in !js 
royal diadem. 

I have not yet mentioned that special pro\'ision by 
which holiness in Paradise is distinguished fro: . holi 
ness in Eden — even the guaranty of the Almighty- - 
which secures it from a second apostacy. This will be 
presented in its proper place and time; but, just now, 
let us receive the full impression of the revealed fact that 
the soul of man, redeemed from sin, born again by the 
will of God, here on earth, will, in the promised and 
prepared Paradise, become perfect as our Father in 



NO MORE CURSE. 227 

heaven is perfect. We falter at tlie great coiiceptiou. 
It seems like immodesty and presumption in us to as- 
pire after it. But it is the calm, sober hope of our 
redeemed nature — likeness to Him who became like 
u.ito us — perfection of body, mind, and soul. 

The next thing to be mentioned is, that the future 
condition of man will correspond precisely unto his 
character. This is never the case on the earth, even 
7/ith the best of our species. The promise is conveyed 
in these words : " And there shall be no more curse J^ 

The world in which we now are is under a curse, the 
shadow of which passes upon all its inhabitants. It 
marks our entrance into life, and our mode of exit from 
it. The evil of which we speak came in with trans- 
gression. There was no sign of it in the garden where 
man was originally placed. Nature had no agency 
with which to terrify and afflict, but all wherewith to 
bloiis and rejoice man in his innocence. Man sinned, 
loid the displeasure of the Almighty followed, as thun- 
der follows the lightning's flash. The curse was upon 
man, and upon the ground for his sake. The curse was 
upon woman : sorrow multiplied, and her own feet en- 
tering the precincts of death to receive the life of her 
offspring. The curse of death was upon them both. 
" Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." 

The gospel of Christ has wrought wonderful changes 
in man's physical condition, and it is destined to achieve 



228 PARADISE. 

yet many more ; but, as long as we are in the world, no 
quality or degree of goodness will exempt us from the 
universal calamity which impends over our species. 
We are born in helplessness, live in sorrow, die in an- 
guish, and are buried in shame. In regard to the true 
oeliever in Christ, this common curse is mitigated, but 
not removed. He has been taught to hope and smile 
amid tribulations, but tribulations are his. The spot- 
less Son of God came under the curse himself, that he 
might lift it off from our sad and suffering nature, and 
restore those whom he redeems to an unmingled joy. 
He became subject unto death, that we might die no 
more. But that result of redemption is ultimate. The 
prospect of a mysterious dissolution of body and spirit 
makes a part of our present probationary experience, 
and, through fear of it, many, through all their lifetime, 
are subject to bondage. Nor is this strange. Death 
is a curse ; and, though the restorative grace of God 
overrules the evil for a higher good, yet no promise, no 
hope, can render death itself any other than a terrible 
evil. It is the retribution of sin. Though the retribu- 
tive law is attempered and modified by the introduction 
of mercy, it is not wholly suspended as yet. Excepting 
those natural and constituted penalties of sinful courses, 
Christian believers are subject to the same forms of death 
as other men. No promise exempts them from the 
physical pains of dissolution. The same cold prostra- 



LIFE EVERLASTING. 229 

tion, tlio same convulsive spasms, the same acutcness 
of pain, the same pantings for breath, for them as for 
others. There is but one way for any to pass out of 
the world who have once entered into it. 

Entirely and absolutely reversed will be the condi- 
tions of that future state to which the redeemed shall 
be translated. There the retributive consequences of 
sm will be more than mitigated — even removed and 
terminated for ever. For thus is it written : " There 
SHALL BE NO MORE CURSE." — "And God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no 
more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall 
there be any more pain, for the former things are 
passed away." 

For the forme?* things are passed away. The last 
vestige of the curse disappears. Those evils, which piety 
itself could not escape in this present life — which are 
common to all in the world which sin invaded and 
cursed — are known no more, not even in shadow, in 
that world where redemption is complete. We die but 
once. Death once passed, our only concern with it ie 
in the joyful recollection of deliverance from an evil 
which is never to be repeated. Neither shall they die 
any more. Not a tear is shed in the celestial Paradise. 
I Life, with no abrupt or violent termination — life, with 
no age, no decay, no infirmity, and no end — the lift 
everlasting' I The last shadow of the curse passed 



230 PARADISE. 

away, and humanity ransomed and restored, lifted up 
above the reach of all those necessities, burdens, griefs, 
sufferings, fears, which belong to this state of discipline, 
to that very life and blessedness of God which knows 
neither mixture, nor peril, nor change. Then, and not 
till then, will Christ be satisfied with the result of his 
great redemption. The greatest changes which the 
Redeemer accomplishes on earth, marvellous as they 
are, are only the partial fulfilment of his great purpose. 
Toward that ultimate issue all things are tending, and 
every benignant effect of the gospel in tliis life is but 
an index and pledge of those greater results which be- 
long to the life which is to come. 

We have only begun the mention of those elements 
of blessedness which describe the Paradise of the Re- 
deemer. We must observe wherein it actually advances 
and improves upon that Paradise which once was upon 
the earth. God's ways are from the lower to the higher 
— from the less to the greater. Not only are there 
some ingredients in that future blessedness which are 
never known on earth, but special arrangements are 
provided for their continuance and perpetuity. 

Enough, however, has been mentioned already to 
excite our gratitude in behalf of those who, redeemed 
by the grace of Christ, have been removed out of this 
world ; and in behalf of ourselves also, that we may 
share in the hope of so great salvation. The Para- 



OPEN TO ALL. 231 

disc of God is open to all v/lio believe in the redemp- 
tion of our Lord. Instead of cherubim with flaming 
sword, interdicting approach to that enclosure of bles- 
sedness, every being within it, walking amid its trees, 
and reposing in its security, He who prepared it, the 
Spirit and the Bride, together join in inviting and wel- 
coming all to its eternal delight. As we can find no 
Paradise on earth, let us be sure to seek that Paradise 
which is in heaven ! 



XIII. 

MAN'S ULTIMATE PERFECTION. 

It is one advantage of the method we have pm*- 
sued, of studying the great facts of Christian anthro- 
pology, in their consecutive order, that man's ultimate 
perfection, as restored by the Son of God, appears 
to be the fitting climax of that redemptive proce&s 
which is in progress before our eyes. Having seen 
wherein our common nature has suffered irjjiiry and de- 
flection, we have been able to comprehend the nature 
of that aid which has been supplied by the Redeemer. 
It only remains that this work of redemption should be 
carried on unto perfection, to give us the scriptural 
conception of that ultimate blessedness which is in re- 
serve for recovered humanity. Heaven is not an arbi- 
trary bestowal, but the result, the completion, and cor- 
nation of that which is begun on earth, througli the 
grace of the Redeemer. 



NOT POETIC DESCRIPTION. 233 

Nothing, as we believe, is more unproductive of 
good, than indiscriminate descriptions of the heavenly 
state, through the poetic faculties. One may gather up 
all the material images which describe that world of 
joy ; his imagination may revel amid visions of gar- 
dens, and palaces, of green meadows, and golden 
streets, all forms of splendor, and beauty, and security, 
and contentment, yea, even of praise, and adoration, 
without obtaining one definite idea of what are the es- 
sential elements of that celestial blessedness. It is one 
of the rudiments of our religious belief, even now, that 
our happiness depends, not so much on our circumstances 
as our characters ; not so much on what we have as what 
we are ; not on what is around us as what is within us. 
Follow the same rule of judgment throughout an inter- 
minable existence. Tell us not altogether of the mate- 
rial magnificence of that city of God, that metropolis 
of the universe, which is to be the abode of the re- 
deemed, but more of the elements which enter into its 
great joy, so that we may decide whether we have any 
affinity with its glorious delights. Address our imagi- 
nation less, and our reason and moral affections more. 
Now, this is the peculiarity of inspired revelation on 
this subject. Herein it differs from that play of hiiy^ 
born of gorgeous Orientalism, which runs riot in Ue 
Koran of the Arabic impostor, when describing his im- 
aginary Paradise. 



234 PARADISE. 

Trespassing not one step beyond the limits of actual 
revelation, Av^e mention as the next element of future 
blessedness, sensible and joyful communion with God. 

When man is first introduced in the inspired rec- 
ords, living in Eden, and that Eden as yet unblighted, 
we find him in happy intercourse with his Maker. A© 
the earth and sky seem to touch, in the breaking of 
the morning along the eastern horizon, so did God 
and man, actually meet and commingle in the morn- 
ing of man's history. Without speculating as to the 
form and method of that communication, without pres- 
sing too far that language which describes the Cre- 
ator as speaking to his image, walking in the garden 
with him, we feel assured that man's intercourse with 
his Maker was sensible, direct, and joyful. God was 
seen, known, and felt to be present, his existence 
not being inferred as now by a process of the rea- 
son. That intercourse was not only direct, immedi- 
ate, and sensible, but it was a source of ineffable 
deliglit. Loving his Maker to the full extent of his 
capacities, man had nothing but confidence and glad- 
ness in liis presence. Apostacy disturbed this inter- 
couri:e, and man was afraid, and hid himself from his 
Croat :;r. 

To say that God withdrew himself henceforth from 
man, would convey a misconception, if the words were 
subject to a literal construction ; for God's thoughts 



VISION OF GOD. 235 

were active on man's recovery. Nevertheless, the 
method of God's intercourse with man was suited to 
those altered relations which sin had induced. At 
length communication is re-established ; but wilh a 
veiled face and intermediate symbols. Not even the 
.most favored of our race, not the chosen shepherd 
of Horeb, into whose hands the tables of the law 
were committed, was permitted to see the face of 
God. Fear, as begotten of conscious guilt, was the 
regnant sentiment of the human soul. From the cleft 
of a rock man might catch a glimpse of the passing 
and receding glory of God. In the august precincts 
of the tabernacle, the high-priest, the one man who 
was the anointed representative of all other men — 
and death smote whomsoever beside him presumed 
upon that sanctity — saw the Shechinah, the burn- 
ing splendor which symbolized the actual presence 
of the Almighty. At length God revealed himself 
again, nearer, closer than before, not in flame, not in 
whirlwind and tempest, not in descending cliariots of 
fii'e, but in a human form. He is in actual con- 
tact with our o\Yn nature. He re-establishes inter- 
course with his creatures on terms which excite confi- 
dence and awaken love. He enters into man's homo ; 
sits at his table ; and converses with him face to 
face. Withdrawing himself again, for a season, he 
sends liis Spirit into man's heart, enkindles the sense 



236 PARADISE. 

of adoption, communicates his own love, and enables 
the regenerated soul to say, " Truly, our fellowship is 
with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." Nev- 
ertheless, this sense of God's being and favor struggles 
against many opposing influences. We have not seen 
God at any time. If w^e love him, if we believe in 
him, we believe and we love him whom we have not 
seen. 

Our faith and love are subject to manifold inter- 
ruptions. The evidence of God's presence is much like 
the light which shines, now and then, through the crev- 
ices of the rifted clouds. The best intercourse of the 
most favored men with their Maker, in the transfigu- 
rations of devotion, is imperfect. It is unsatisfactory, 
and provokes hungerings and thirstings after some 
manifestation of God more direct and sensible. Mean- 
while this process of spiritual reconciliation and recov- 
ery is going on, and the promise of redemption is, that 
man again shall see the face of his God. Now, par- 
tially restored, man sees through a glass darkly, but ul- 
timately his intercourse with his Maker shall be imme- 
diate, uninterrupted, direct, and joyful. Through the 
mighty power of Him who assumed our nature, we shall 
be as truly reconciled to God, harmonized with him, and 
associated with him, as if the shadow of sin, and fear, 
and repulsion, had never passed upon the soul. One of 
the great promises of Scripture is, that the " taberna- 



INTERCOURSE WITH GOD. 237 

cle of God shall be with men, and he shall be their 
God, and they shall be his people." The promise 
is conveyed in symbolical language. As the ancieut 
tabernacle was the place where in a special, nay, 
exclusive sense, God made a manifestation of him- 
self, we are to understand, by the language here 
employed, that he will establish such a direct inter- 
course with men that they shall perceive and enjoy 
his immediate presence. 

Of similar import is the promise concerning the new 
I Jerusalem which is to come down from heaven, having 
the glory of God, in which is no temple, " for the Lord 
God Almighty and the Lamb are the light thereof." 
Once there was a temple in which God revealed himself 
to devout worshippers. But it was a temple with a 
vail between man and his Maker — a manifestation of 
God, restricted, partial, and incomplete. Hereafter 
there shall be no such temple, no wall, no gate, no 
3ourt, no separation, no vail, no restriction, no mystery, 
and no interdict ; more than what the temple was to 
the Priest heaven shall be to the ransomed — who ai^e 
all priests and kings unto God. No limitations of 
place, and mode, and form, shall obstruct the revela- 
tion of God's glory, but his children shall see his face, 
and he shall smile on them, and dwell with them for 
ever. 

See his face ? Actually, literally, certainly. They 



238 PARADISE. 

shall see God. What do we intend when we speak of 
seeing objects with the eye, that most satisfactory of all 
our senses ? The eye does not see ; it is itself a curi- 
ous apparatus which enables the intelligent spirit within 
to discern the images of objects without. Arrange an 
optical instrument in imitation of the lenses of the eye, 
and throw the images thus produced on a blank, dead 
wall. Does the wall see ? It is the spiritual lodger 
within which receives the impression of those images, 
transmitted to it by means of this curious mechanism 
of the eye. This eye, at length, will be sealed in 
death. Films, darkness, decay, dust, will be the end 
of those optics, the beauty and fidelity of which no hu- 
man skill can reconstruct. But of this we may be sure, 
in that ultimate perfection of the spiritual body, we 
shall have not less but more of that very delight and 
satisfaction which we now derive from the use of the 
eye. What limited objects are those which are painted 
on the retina of this small organ ! 

In the economy of redemption things advance from 
less to greater. Nothing good and useful in us will be 
dwarfed in the spiritual body. That also will have its 
media of communication. Confound not what is spirit- 
ual with tlie dim, the vague, and the shadowy. Ic is 
while in this body of clay, with a veil and bui'dcji of 
flesh, that we are subject to such a misconception. 
Ilereafter we shall see God — see him as he is — see 



JOYFUL ACTIVITY. 239 

him face to face. Not then, as now, shall we reason 
out the conviction of his existence, inferring the at- 
tributes of his nature from the attributes of his works ; 
not then, as now, shall we believe in God by tlie 
power of faith in an invisible object : but the percep- 
tion of his presence will be so sensible, immediate, 
and complete, that no word can so well express it as 
sight. 

And this intercourse with God will be the source of 
infinite delight, because God himself will there be the 
object of supreme love. Love asks no greater pleasure 
than the presence of its object. '' Brethren, we know 
not now what we shall be." Love for God is so im- 
perfect, so inadequate, that in its very highest exercise 
it is now associated with a painful sense of defect and 
demerit. Conceive what it will be when, made perfect, 
it ejects fear ; and, greater than all, when it outgrows 
the sense of shame, that shadow of sin, it shall live in 
utmost confidence, in immediate intercourse, with its 
object. So man had communion with God at the be- 
ginning, in Eden ; so shall he again commune with hira, 
in Paradise — seeing him, walking with him, resembling 
him, resting in his bosom. The sky and the earth touch 
again, and man once more is brought back to the love 
and vision of his God. 

Nor is this ultimate perfection of humanity an inac- 
tive repose. Man's eternal sabbath is not a sleep. 



240 PARADISE. 

Next to tlie removal of every curse, the perfection of 
body, soul, and spirit, and the actual vision of God, is 
the joyful activity of man's renovated nature; or, as it 
is prominently set forth among the many inspired prom- 
ises pertaining to that future state, '' His servants shall 
serve him." 

It was thought not unworthy of mention by the Holy 
Ghost, among the many sources of delight which man 
enjoyed in primeval Eden, that he was placed in the 
garden to till and to keep it. Occupation was the 
pleasure of innocence. The exercise of his own facul- 
ties of body and mind was essential to his blessedness. 
Man was made for action, as streams are made to 
flow. He was God's image and likeness, and God is 
life and action, motion and power. Sin entered, and 
retribution changed work into labor. As man must 
needs expend and employ his vital strength, and, as he 
himself is deflected from the right way, that expendi- 
ture is difficult and toilsome. The curse doomed man 
to earn and eat his bread by the sweat of his brow. 
So many are the advantages of which we are all con- 
scious in connection with industrious habits and con- 
stant occupation, that with difficulty we comprehend 
how that was ever a curse which seems now a posi- 
tive blessing. Let us remember that we are living un- 
der a remedial and restorative system; that Christi- 
anity has immensely modified and changed man's con- 



GLEESOME WORK. 241 

dition already ; that the curse has been mitigated and 
lightened ; and we have only to anticipate the promised 
time when there shall be no more curse^ to satisfy our- 
selves what enjoyment will spring from the brisk and 
unwearied exercise of our immortal powers. 

To understand what was meant by that curse which 
doomed man to sweat and labor, we must go beyond 
the genial light and benignant influences of the Chris- 
tian redemption, where man is compelled to sustain a 
cheerless existence, plodding on like the beasts which 
perish, with little hope, little courage, and little re- 
ward. The Christian religion has done so much for 
?i5, that we forget the palpable fact that the immense 
majority of the human race, at this very hour, are 
doomed to drudgery and back-breaking labor for a bare 
subsistence. It is as though they were forced to grind 
in the prisonhouse of their great and cruel captor, and 
they groan, being burdened. 

The redemption of Christ plants hope in the human 
soul, and, gradually ameliorating our condition, con- 
verts labor back again to work, lifts off the pressure 
which crowds and crushes, and gives free play to the 
unfettered faculties. Man redeemed, tastes the pleas- 
ure of occupation under the impulse of new motives ; 
couples fervor of spirit with serving the Lord, industry 
with religion, and so, instead of groaning, he hums con- 

tcDtmont at his work ; and the more busy he is, from 

11 



242 PARADISE. 

religious motives, the more blessed he becomes. Carry 
out this idea to a consummated result ; divest work of 
weariness and exhaustion ; restore humanity from its 
inbred and inveterate malady of indolence ; make oc- 
cupation congenial and grateful, and let our recovered 
nature find its joy in the smooth working of all its 
varied faculties. So will it be hereafter. In this im- 
perfect state we associate work — w^ork in good causes 
and from good motives — even the whole matter of a 
religious living— too much with necessity and obliga- 
tion; and we urge ourselves to effort where at last 
there will be the fullness of spontaneous life. His ser- 
vants shall serve him. Not from compulsion, not re- 
luctantly, not laboriously, not against opposing wishes 
and purposes, but joyfully, as the lark springs up and 
mounts to the gates of heaven, pouring out its gleesomo 
song in a rapture of delight. 

I stood at the bedside of a most intelligent Christian, 
waiting for her great change to come. She was full of 
joyful anticipation. " Oh," said she, " to ' run ivith 
willing feet in the way of God's commandments,' what 
a gladsome promise is that !" It was a most discrimi- 
nating perception of this very element of future bles- 
sedness — His servants shall serve him — with no draw- 
ing back, no urgency, no idea of necessity — moving 
and obeying because we must — but w^ith cliecrfiil alac- 
rity, and with all the powers of the ransomed soul 



HEAVENLY REST. 243 

flaming in one direction of unmixed, uncoerced, and un- 
impeded choice. The angels who do God's command- 
ments are as flames of fire, alert and resplendent in 
their promptitude. Our daily prayer at last will be 
accomplished : we shall do the will of God, as it is now 
done in heaven. The spiritual body shall know no fa- 
tigue, and no necessity for recruiting its exhausted 
strength by sleep. 

There are limits to action in this life. We can not 
carry even our religious occupations beyond a certain 
bound. Greeting the sabbath morning with gratitude 
and joy, and engaging in its praises and delights, when 
evening comes we find that even Christian adoration 
and well-doing can not exceed the limits of our nature ; 
and the last thought which passes through our minds, 
ere sleep visits us, is of that world where there is no 
night — not any necessity for restorative rest, but one 
unwearied life. 

It has been thought by some as quite a solecism when 
Baxter, in his immortal description of the saint's ever- 
lasting rest, called it an active rest. Undoubtedly the 
idea present to his mind was precisely this : that man 
will not rest in heaven as a stone rests on the earth ; 
but, exempted from all which is disagreeable and irk 
some, all that is coerced and compulsory, he shall find 
his highest satisfaction in flights of spontaneous obedi 
ence: — 



244 PARADISE. 

''Rest is not quittin^^ 
The busy career; 
Rest is the fitting 
Of self to its sphcrr, 

"'Tis the brook's motion. 
Clear without strife — 
Fleeing to ocean 
After its life. 

" 'Tis loving and serving 
The Greatest and Best; 
'Tis onward — unswerving — 
And this is true rest !" 

What forms of service await restored humanity — 
what occupations shall furnish occasion for its reno- 
vated activity — to what labor of love, what ministra- 
tions of mercy, what vigorous work, or sweet grace, the 
redeemed shall be invited — we may not conjecture; 
but surely He who gives us so much to do on earth, 
and so much pleasure in doing it, will not fail, amid 
the relations of all worlds and all beings, in furnishing 
to man, restored to his loyalty, abundant occupation : 

"Por every power finds sweet employ 
In that eternal world of joy/' 

Belonging to that ultimate issue and completion of 
redemption, there will be a public recognition and pro- 
motion of all who share in its benefits. This is ex- 
pressed in the promise — ^^ His name shall be in their 
foreheads, "^"^ If the language be tropical, it is easy of 
interpretation. On the fore-front of his mitre, on the 



PUBLIC RECOGNITION. 245 

surface of a blazing diamond, the high-priest wore the 
ineffable name of Jehovah. In the joyful worship of 
the skies, every redeemed man shall be distinguished as 
such. Here he wears the name of Christ in his heart. 
In this living tablet it dwells by faith. Yet is he often 
disturbed with doubts and apprehensions relative to his 
own character. With great concern and solicitude does 
he ponder the question whether he is one of those who 
will stand with the Redeemer on Mount Zion above. 
Restoration being incomplete as yet, he is subject to 
many painful uncertainties concerning himself, like one 
in process of recovery from a long and painful illness, 
who is sensible of much weakness, and subject to many 
depressions. At last, when restoration is complete, 
these doubts shall be solved, and these fears dissi- 
pated for ever. The name of the Redeemer shall be in 
his forehead, clear and bright as the star in the morn- 
ing sky ; and man, redeemed and restored, stands be- 
fore the universe the acknowledged child of God, the 
visible crown and success of redemption. 

Often are we mistaken here in our judgment of oth- 
ers. The true followers of the Redeemer are frequently 
overlooked and unknown, while others are exalted into 
observation by a false promotion. Every mistake will 
be rectified in that ultimate issue, when righteous judg- 
ment shall prevail, and the name of the Lamb shall 
flame on the brow of every redeemed man. The Son 



246 PARADISE. 

of God has not expended so much for waste. Esteem- 
ing those he redeems as his jewels, the regalia of his 
kingdom, he will not suffer them to be lost, but will 
gather them up, exhibit and acknowledge them, as the 
results, honors, and rewards, with which his own soul 
is satisfied. Redemption will not then appear the am- 
biguous and incomplete thing which it sometimes seems 
to our present purblind vision ; but in its manifested 
triumphs, its complete consummation — man lifted up 
from every depression, promoted out of every obscu- 
rity, rescued from every shame — the image of God as 
at the beginning — God's own resplendent child and 
heir ! 



XIV. 

THE PERFECTED RESULT OF REDEMPTION. 

As one who has been long and laboriously travelling 
along miry roads, perplexed with gulleys and stones, 
through dark woods, disagreeable fens and marshes, 
overspread by dense and unwholesome fogs, at length 
reaches the smooth top of a hill, where he finds the air 
clear and tonic, the sky without a cloud, every obstruc- 
tion left behind, and the landscape stretching away in 
bright and beautiful perspective — so we, who have beea 
studying the great facts of man's moral history — his 
temptation and his fall, the failure of all attempts at 
self-recuperation, the griefs which depress him, the ret- 
ributions which overtake him, the death through which 
he must pass, the vicarious sorrows by which he was 
redeemed, and all the varied conflicts and difficulties of 
his gradual restoration — are now brought to a " great 
and high mountain," where we behold man's redemp- 



248 PARADISE. 

tion complete, himself mingling with the crowd of heav- 
enly worshippers, and a partaker of all the joys and 
honors of his Father's kingdom. 

It is no Icarian wing of imagination to which we in- 
trust ourselves for an adventurous flight. Divine rev- 
elation is our guide, and religious faith with steadfast 
and unfaltering strength shall bear us up to the " Mount 
Zion which is above." It has well been observed : "If 
meditation of the future and invisible world bo liable 
to any abuse, or may be likely to degenerate into in- 
sipid or presumptuous conceits, it is only when the iirst 
principles of the gospel are lost sight of. Th( ccntem- 
platist goes astray when he forgets himself and his 
guide — when he muses idly of heaven, as if there bad 
been no transgression and were no redemption. And 
the difficulty also as well as the hazard of such attempts 
to rise above the present scene, or to penetrate the in- 
visible world, is enhanced, or is indeed rendered insu- 
perable, when our actual position as those who have 
been restored is not kept in mind ; but, on the contrary, 
is obviated while we look to Him who, as Precursor, 
has trodden all the path of existence, even from the 
low starting-point of humanity, through death, to the 
upper region of perpetual pleasure."* 

The revelation of the Christian mystery, ^^ God mani- 

* Isaac Taylor. 



ULTIMATE ISSUE. 249 

fest in the flesh" as our Redeemer — this, and nothing 
but this, gives impulse, substance, hope, and reason, 
to the meditations of the heavenly state. Certainly it 
is in the Christian revelation that we see that door 
opened in heaven through which we may behold the 
throne of our Maker, and man bending with angels in 
joyful adoration. 

The place where we are now to take our stand of 
observation is far beyond the mount of Olives, Geth- 
semane, and Calvary. Par away is it beyond death — 
ay, beyond the resurrection, and beyond the judgment. 
The graves are behind and not before us. Long ago 
have these been despoiled, and forced to give up their 
treasures. The conflagration of the world, the dissol- 
ving of the elements, are events which have passed. 
All that is meant by the new heavens and the new 
earth, whatever they arc, has actually come. All that 
Christian men have anticipated, oftentimes with a sort of 
incredulous and bewildered apprehension, has emerged 
from the region of faith into actual vision. The myste- 
ries of Christian belief have passed out from clouds and 
reserve into the full sunshine of unobstructed compre- 
hension. Man, as we now shall see him, in that farthest 
point of observation to which inspiration carries our 
power of vision, is not the form now so familiar to our 
eyes, crippled, deformed, diseased, bent, clad in rags, 

witli face soiled by dust, and sweat, and tears ; not the 

11* 



250 PARADISE. 

form as last we saw it when going from the earth, cold, 
pallid, lifeless, bound about with grave-clothes : it is an 
ethereal form — a glorious body — a form of strength, 
and grace, and light — clothed in honor and immor- 
tality : — 

^' Creature aU grandeur, son of truth and light, 
Up from the dust ! the last great day is bright — 
Bright on the Holy Mountain, round the throne — 
Bright where in borrowed light the far stars shone ! 
Look down : the depths are bright ; and hear them cry — 
* Light !' — ^ Light !' Look up : 'tis rushing down from high ! 
Regions on regions — far away they shine ; 
'Tis light ineffable, 'tis light divine — 
Immortal light, and life for evermore !" 

Lord Bolingbroke was accustomed to say, in the 
way of caricaturing the Christian representation of the 
heavenly world, that the prospect of an endless sing- 
ing of hymns, so far from being an occasion of joyful 
anticipation, was only a weariness and disgust. One 
can not but be grieved at the mistakes which occurred 
in the early education of this distinguished man. We 
have no doubt that irradicable prejudices against the 
Christian religion were excited in his mind by certaii 
forms of well-intended but indiscreet action of pious 
relatives. The wonder is, that his adult reason — and 
certainly it was of no ordinary character — should have 
confounded tropical language with literal representa- 
tion, to such a degree as actually to lose sight of the 
substantial joy of the heavenly life in a dislike of the 



FULLNESS OF JOY. 251 

figurative and extrinsic form in which it is described. 
With little taste for religious worship himself, it is not 
strange that he distasted the heavenly joy which is 
symbolized in the form of gladsome adoration. He 
should not have forgotten that there were those who 
possessed other and different tastes. He should have 
remembered that there were those among men who 
associated nothing displeasing or irksome with the acts 
of religious worship. 

The author of the eighty-fourth psalm had none 
but joyful associations with that sabbath service. As 
on that day of gladness the inhabitants of city and 
country flocked together to the courts of the Lord, 
within the gates of the Holy City, young and old com- 
ing up from the valleys of the vine and the olive — 
from strength to strength, the confluent tribes receiving 
fresh recruits at the opening of every glen, and the 
descent of every hill— into their glorious temple, and 
there, with voices and with instruments, pouring out 
the swelling chorus amid all forms of jubilation, be 
assured that to all who joined in that service the 
world could present no other images or symbols of 
equal gladness. 

It is gladness which is portrayed to us in the forms 
of celestial worship. The reality set forth by this 
representation is fullness of joy. It is pleasure, pleas- 
ure pure, pleasure for evermore, which is described as 



252 PARADISE. 

the regnant emotion of the heavenly world. Praise 
is the expression of delight. In this imperfect state 
we discipline ourselves to look upon pleasure with sus- 
picion and distrust ; because we have discovered that 
there are so many pleasures which mislead us, syren 
voices which allure to mischief and disappointment. 
Never should we lose sight, however, of the truth, that 
pleasure, positive pleasure, is the true law and ultimate 
object of our existence. We were made for enjoyment. 

Restraint, negation, reserve, do not define the law 
of our being. Requisite are they, essentially requisite 
now that we have gone astray from true happiness ; but 
when the right way has been re-entered, and the right 
objects have been chosen, then shall we find rivers of 
pleasure and fullness of joy. Redemption restores and 
more than restores that which was the chief end of our 
being — enjoyment, positive enjoyment. 

The mediation of Christ reaches its climax in irre- 
pressible songs. Self-restraint, self-subjection, under 
the necessities of confession and humiliation, are be- 
coming our present imperfect condition, but they will 
be lost for ever, when our restoration is complete. 
Every image which denotes the purest joy is introduced 
into this description of the ultimate blessedness of the 
redeemed. They are clad in white, the wedding gar- 
ments of a great festivity. Music is the natural utter- 
ance of their delight. Nor is this a strained and artifi- 



POSITIVE PLEASURE. 253 

cial expression. It is full-toned chorus ; it is hearty 
praise ; it is jubilant adoration. There is waving of 
incense from golden censers. There is the lifting up 
of triumphant palms. There is the casting of golden 
crowns at the feet of the enthroned. There is " the 
voice of harpers harping with their harps." And the 
song of multitudes, whom no man can number, ten 
tliousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thou- 
sands, is as the voice of many waters, and as the voice 
of a great thunder : and as that doxology of the Re- 
deemer waxes louder and fuller, the very pillars and 
arches of heaven are tremulous with joy. Divested 
of all that is tropical and symbolical in form, the one 
idea conveyed to us is, that the climacteric of re- 
demption is fully irrepressible y eternal joy, A religion 
which falls short of positive and unfailing pleasure, as 
the ultimate law of life, can not meet the necessities of 
humanity. 

Redemption is an advance on creation. It more 
than regains what was lost, more than restores what 
was original. The burden of that heavenly song- 
is salvation^ blessings and thanksgiving. The sec- 
ond Paradise is better than Eden. The joy of man 
redeemed, restored, and perfected, is greater than that 
of man in the glory of his innocence. 

Tliere was a happy home, the abode of plenty, and 
love, and confidence, and joy. Temptation invaded il. 



254 PARADISE. 

and the young son was seduced into extravagance, 
dissipation, and disobedience. He leaves his father's 
house, and abandons himself to the vilest company, 
and the worst courses. There is sorrow in that des- 
olate home. The afflicted father sits silent and droop- 
ing at his own hearth ; for his son is worse than dead 
to him — lost in character, lost to himself, and lost 
to hope. The vagrant boy at length reaches the re- 
sult of his folly and guilt. He is reduced to beggary, 
shame, and famine. He is far from home. He is 
with strangers who treat him as if he never had a 
home. Do no thoughts of that loved spot he had for- 
saken, and of those loved ones whom he has injured, 
ever tug at his heart-strings ? He comes to himself — 
wakes from his dream of madness, repents before God, 
impeaches himself for folly and sin, and resolves to re- 
turn to his injured father. He can not think of being 
reinstated in his place as a son, but would be con- 
tent with the lowest place as a servant. Penitent, 
doubtful, ashamed, heart-broken, he conies in sight of 
his childhood's home ; and his father's love was quicker 
than his own confession ; ere he could speak, his father 
has caught him in his arms, pressed him to his heart, 
kissed him, forgiven him, and with ineffable pity and 
love, welcomed him back to safety. There was mu- 
sic, there was feasting, there was dancing, everything 
which could express the joy which was felt in recover- 



PROMISED PERPETUITY. 255 

ing him who was counted as lost and as dead. It were 
hard for us to tell which of the twain was the happier, 
that loving father or the forgiven son. Were not the 
tears which streamed that night upon the pillow of that 
penitent boy, warm, and sweet, and blessed ? We can 
not but think that some emotion of shame always lin- 
gered amid his gratitude, to give it a tinge of sadness 
— but imagine that love had deepened, and strengthened 
to such a degree in the lapse of years, that it outmas- 
tered all lesser emotions, would not the enjoyment of 
that restored son be enhanced through gratitude for his 
recovery ? 

The love of restored man is to be perfect. It will 
outlive the sense of shame. But gratitude is a new ele- 
ment in its life. Joy on being recovered out of shame, 
and sin, and misery, and death, is its distinctive quality. 
Salvation is the burden of its song. Thanksgiving is 
the key-note of its music. The rejoicing of heaven is 
more and greater than rejoicing at creation. It is a 
new song which is chanted by the redeemed. 

Another element of that celestial joy, giving it a 
higher tone than that of the first Paradise on earth, is 
\i^ promised perpetuity. No such quality belonged to 
the innocence of man's first probation. The happiness 
of man in Eden was suspended upon a contingency. It 
would continue so long as his obedience continued. No 
such uncertainties pertain to the final issue of redemp- 



256 PARADISE. 

tion. Man in Eden stood in obedience, stood in him- 
self, the issues of his high probation being suspended on 
his own free will. But man redeemed and restored, 
stands in Jesus Christ, in grace, in covenant, in prom- 
ises, and so in fearless and eternal seciirity. He is 
removed from the region of conditions, contingencies, 
and peradventures, to share in the changeless life of 
his divine Redeemer. This idea is conveyed to us, 
throughout the New Testament, in language and ima- 
ges of the utmost strength. " Because I live," said 
Christ, " ye shall live also." He bears the august 
titles of " Lord of life," the " Prince of life," " the 
Li/e" itself, and the life and joy of those he ransoms 
are as secure, and changeless, and endless, as his own. 
We wonder why sin was ever permitted to invade 
a world under the government of omnipotent love. 
That wonder is lessened when we learn the immense 
gain and good which are to be secured by that grace 
which overrules evil for its own shame and ' defeat. 
Redemption solves the mystery and justifies the permit- 
ted events of human history. That redemption com- 
plete, there will be no second apostacy. The perpetu- 
ity of restored humanity is guarantied by a special de- 
cree of the Almighty. No tempter will be permitted to 
enter the celestial Paradise- No serpent lurks beneath 
the trees which skirt the river of life. The tenure by 
wliich they who are redeemed from among men hold their 



AN INNUMERABLE COMPANY. 257 

heavenly inlieritance differs even from that which keeps 
the holy angels in their high estate. Well may they ex- 
ult who come home to the heavenly Zion with songs and 
everlasting joy upon their heads. Members of his body 
who sitteth upon the throne, oft as they turn a grateful 
eye to him they are reminded of the perpetuity of their 
new life. Long as Christ lives they shall live ivith him, 
and in him. No cloud obscures the prospects of futu- 
rity. The life which Christ restores is secured beyond 
the reach of power, and accident, and apostacy, and 
peril. It is a life of joy, without the possibility of fall- 
ing away, and without an end ; for the well-spring of it 
is not our personal obedience, but the life of the Re- 
deemer, the very life of God. 

It has not escaped the notice of the reader, as a part 
of the inspired description of that future state, that it is 
enjoyed by a multitude whom no man can number. A 
fact so prominently set forth in revelation should not be 
pretermitted in our regard. Because our Lord, with su- 
pernatural sagacity, met the inquiry of a frivolous man, 
as to the number of the saved, with a response which 
turned his thoughts to his personal perils and necessi- 
ties, let us not conclude that all knowledge concerning 
the number of the ransomed is itself unimportant. A 
weighty consideration is it to those who feel it to be no 
small part of the difficulty against which faith is strug- 
gling, that believers in Christ are at present in a fear- 



258 PAUADISE. 

ful minority ; an inspiriting thought is it to be assured 
that this proportion ultimately will be reversed. The 
worship of the skies will not be chanted in solo strains, 
but by an innumerable multitude out of all nations, and 
kindred, and people, and tongues. The paths which 
now lead to the city of God have travellers few and 
scattered ; but in that celestial metropolis where they 
all converge, the concourse will exceed all power of 
computation; more than the sands of the seashore — 
more for numbers than the stars of the firmament — 
more than drops of the morning dew. 

Never indulge the apprehension in this unfinished 
state that redemption will prove a failure, or that you 
are committed to an illusion which will ultimately make 
you ashamed. The soul of the Infinite will not be sat- 
isfied with paucity of numbers. The large majority of 
the human species die in infancy. They are simply 
born, and die. They scarcely touch our earth ere they 
are removed. This profusion of life is not luaste, but 
economy^ for they all live unto God. They enter the 
gates of being in connection with depressed and dying 
humanity, that they may enter the gates of life, through 
the grace of the Redeemer. We shall be slow to doubt 
that this is the Christian solution of that otherwise in- 
explicable problem of nature — the untimely death of 
the great majority of our race : it is not deaths but sal- 
vation. 



ANGELS 259 

The guests will not be wanting at the marriage sup- 
per of the Lamb. Those who measure their own sue 
cess by the numbers with which they are associated, 
will have no reason to be ashamed at that assemblage 
of the ransomed. Such a gathering was never before 
since the foundations of the earth were laid : the whole 
family of the redeemed, from all the generations and 
tribes, and centuries of time. All ages, all varieties, 
all forms of humanity, will be there — the general as- 
sembly of the church of the first-born who are written 
in heaven. If we might select even now a congress 
of characters, such as we have known, and such as we 
have read of; if out of all the earth we might gather 
them together, and listen to their wisdom, and share in 
their confidence, and commune with their love ; it were 
a privilege which should exceed the powers of our ima- 
gination : but the positive promises of Christ in regard 
to the perfected results of his redemption are that the 
spirits of the just made perfect shall be congregated to- 
gether hereafter as never they were before — all the 
redeemed, all the perfected, in social harmony and joy. 
Whatever shame there may be that day in the universe, 
it will not be found among any attached to that '^ innu- 
merable company." 

In every description which inspiration has given us 
of that heavenly state, mention is made of angels and 
other orders of beings, who, not partakers of our nature, 



260 PARADISE. 

are nevertheless to be sharers of our gratitude, and 
praises, and joy. They, too, are represented as bowing 
and singing before the throne of the Lamb. The song 
of the redeemed is indeed a neio song to angels who 
have never sinned ; yet they join in it for ever and 
ever. How can this be explained ? It is something 
more than the sympathy of pure goodness with the glad- 
ness of others. Indeed, it gleams on us, at times, as a 
great wonder, how angels who shouted for joy at the 
world's creation — who were eminent in wisdom, and 
mighty in strength, before man was formed out of the 
dust — could ever be made to harmonize with humanity 
on any other terms than pity and condescension. Like 
all other problems and mysteries, this is solved by re- 
demption^ and by this only. 

The Being by whom man is redeemed and restored 
is higher than the angels. He took not on him their 
nature, for his condescension reached even to those 
whom he would save. He took upon himself our na- 
ture. He became a veritable man. Herein he crowned 
man with honor and glory. He lifted up humanity, by 
this divine alliance, so as never it was promoted in the 
mere gradations of being. By this act, man is made 
greater than the angels. What, " know ye not that ye 
shall judge angels?" Is not humanity enthroned in 
the person of the Judge? Those mysterious beings 
whom the Apocalypse describes in juxtaposition with 



ALL IN ONE. 261 

the throne of the Almighty, with face of eagle and lion, 
have they not also one face of a man ? 

That great sweep and circuit of Christ's condescen- 
sion, does it not encircle and include the angels ? Could 
the eldest, wisest, greatest of the heavenly hierarchy, 
pass by a redeemed man, or treat him with reserve, or 
otherwise than with honor and love, without putting a 
slight upon Him who sitteth on the throne ? That an- 
gel who was sent to announce to the Virgin Mary the 
high honor to be conferred on her, the mother of Christ, 
will never look with cold condescension or disdain on 
any human infant in heaven, since the Highest himself 
was once a babe in Bethlehem. The shining ones who 
were seen on the morning of the resurrection, sitting in 
the vacant tomb of Christ, the one at the head and the 
other at the foot, where his body was laid, will never 
deem it beneath their rank and greatness to associate 
with those who pass through the shame and darkness 
of death to the skies, seeing that He whom they wor- 
ship became a man, and himself was once the tenant of 
the sepulchre. A partaker of our nature, he is not 
ashamed to call us brethren. And this is the fact which 
explains how all who are in heaven and all who are on 
earth may be gathered together in one, through the 
all-embracing condescension of the Incarnate. The 
divine stooping far below them — the human lifted up 
far above them — the angels, wlio never have sinned. 



262 PAEADISE. 

and so never were redeemed, catcli the key-note of a 
new anthem, and bear up with their strong voices the 
common praise of the One Redeemer. It is not true at 
all that redemption is a provincial measure. Even if 
we knew that this was the only world in the creation 
of God which is blighted by sin and restored by the 
Redeemer, this act of redemption is not local and ter- 
ritorial, for the incarnation of the Son of God is an act 
which comprehends and includes all intermediate orders 
of beings in its mighty embrace. 

And this, by a most natural transition, leads us to 
notice that Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of men, is the 
central object in that world of adoration and joy. As, 
so to speak, he is everywhere represented as the acting 
Divinity of this world, so, when this world's affairs arc 
terminated and adjudicated, he will be the object of uni- 
versal praise, and gratitude, and love. When we speak 
of this great mystery of our faith, '' God manifest in the 
flesh," we ask no man to bring it down to our compre- 
hension by an exact analysis. We leave it where the 
Scriptures leave it — a mystery still. But this is plain 
and luminous. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the Re- 
deemer of the world, is the Being whom glorified men 
and angels adore. When first revealed to our faith, 
he was a babe in Bethlehem. He was a man of sorrows 
and acquainted with grief. He seemed the lowliest of 
men — without a pillow for his head, familiar with hun- 



t 



THE LAMB ENTHRONED. 263 

ger, thirst, and neglect. He seemed to be passive and 
helpless in the hands of men who put him to death. 
Amid the memories of what he was in his humiliation, 
lose not sight of what he is in the glories of his exalta- 
tion. He is seated on a throne of majesty. The myr- 
iads redeemed by his blood encircle his throne with 
praises and adorations. They but strain their vision to 
little advantage who study to demonstrate the divinity 
of our Lord out of isolated texts, forgetful of the re- 
vealed issue and climacteric of redemption. 

Away beyond the shadows and mysteries of time — 
away beyond the final judgment — we see a throne^ and 
we hear the voice of many angels round about the 
throne ; and the beasts and the elders, those mysterious 
representatives of the heavenly hierarchy, saying with 
a loud voice : '^ ' Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to 
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, 
and honor, and glory, and blessing.' And every crea- 
ture which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under 
the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are 
in them, heard I, saying, ' Blessing, and honor, and 
glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the 
throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever !' " 

In this shadowy state of mortal life, unbelief is for 
ever crowding redemption into a corner — conceiving it 
to be the faith of a few people, the concern of sabbath 
days, the mere comfort of the sick and the dying: but 



264 PARADISE. 

in the illumination of eternity, redemption will be seen 
as the great end and unity of all things human, the key 
of history, the harmony of events, the beginning and 
the ending of this world's life. Then shall we attach 
new meaning to the august titles of our Lord — the Al- 
pha and the Omega, the first and the last, the King of 
kings and Lord of lords — for q/'him, and through him, 
and to him, are all things, to whom be glory for ever ! 
Amen. 

" Rise, crowned with light, imperial Salem, rise ! 
Exalt thy tow^-y head, and lift thine eyes ! 
See a long race thy spacious courts adorn ; 
See future sons and daughters yet unborn. 
In crowding ranks, on every side arise. 
Demanding life, impatient of the skies ! 
See barbarous nations at thy gates attend. 
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend ! 
See thy bright altars thronged with prostrate kings. 
And heaped with products of Sabean springs ! 
For thee Idume's spicy forests blow. 
And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow 
See heaven its sparkling portals wide display. 
And break upon thee in a flood of day ! 
No more the rising sun shall gild the morn. 
Nor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn ; 
But lost, dissolved in thy superior rays,' 
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze, 
O'erflow thy courts : the Light Himself shall shine 
Revealed, and God's eternal day be thine ! 
The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay ; 
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away : 
' But fixed His word, his saving power remains — 
Thy realm for ever lasts, thy own Messiah reigns V' 



d^ 



WITHIN THE GATES. 265 

So redemption advances to its grand climacteric. 
Such will be the redeemed church — the body and the 
bride of Christ — on earth and in heaven. Our place 
to-day is remote, in the visible ranks of that long pro- 
cession which follows the Lamb whithersoever he go- 
eth ; but the whole body is ever in motion, and if indeed 
we are in that train of faith and love, we shall be ad- 
vanced, farther and farther, in the revolutions of time 
and Providence, till we actually enter within the gates, 
and stand before the throne ! We know not, now, what 
we shall be ! Lamb of God ! may we believe, love, and 
follow thee, on earth — that we may see, love, and 

adore thee, in heaven ! 

12 



XV. 

HOW IS ULTIMATE PEKFECTION TO BE ATTAINED ? 

It were not enough to describe what man will be 
when restored and perfected ; not enough to know tnat 
there is a Paradise of blessedness and security, into 
which all who are redeemed from among men shall be 
admitted as their perpetual home : we would know, for 
a certainty, if we can, what are the terms and conditions 
on which an entrance there may be secured ; what is 
the path which conducts thither ; and whether we our- 
selves are actually walking in that road which will 
bring us to the kingdom of heaven. Are there to be 
no discriminations among men ? Are the human race, 
without regard to individual character, to be borne on 
to an indefinite perfectibility by an irresistible neces- 
sity ? Are men, and all men, to be saved, just as they 
are born, without choice or responsibility of their own ? 
or are some definite forms of activity on our part indis- 



ILLIMITABLE PROVISION. 267 

pensable to our personal salvation ? It were only to 
sharpen the sting of a future disappointment to describe 
the heavenly Paradise, if we do not actually enter the 
path which leads to its blessedness.' 

Visiting the country in early summer — the season of 
freshness, and growth, and exuberant life — two things 
impress us much. The one is the profusion and afflu- 
ence of those provisions which the God of Nature has 
made for the well-being of his creatures. Bread enough 
and to spare is inscribed all over our Father's house. 
What an infinity of blossoms, above all that are needed ! 
what an infinity of fruits, above all that ever will be 
used ! Light is not meted out like an artificial illumi- 
nation, so much consumption for so many who use it : 
it is poured all over the earth with illimitable pro- 
fusion — over the rocks and woods, where no man liv- 
eth; all over the sea, where no man roameth. Who 
can measure the waters ? There is no fear that man 
ever will exhaust their abundance. The springs are 
full and flowing among the rocks ; the brooks running 
through the meadows ; the large rivers rolling their 
magnificence to the sea ; the great lakes lifting up their 
reservoirs of abundance ; and the dew and the rain de- 
fying and baffling all powers of computation. The con- 
cave of the skies, how vast ! — large enough for a can- 
opy over all the earth. And the air which is treasured 



268 PARADISE. 

within it, for the sustenance of life, is not barely suffi- 
cient for so many, and for so long : it seems to laugh 
at the idea of stint or measurement. With wings laden 
with perfume, it flies away to kiss the hills, fan the 
tree-tops, and play with the ocean — encircling the 
globe, and coming back, as if it could not possibly ex- 
haust its exuberant strength and life. The works ol 
God are distinguished by this abundance, this immense 
profusion, this infinity. 

The other thought with which one is deeply impressed 
is, the silence of God in Nature. I do not mean that 
sweet tranquillity which is so refreshing to a fevered 
spirit going from city crowds and noise to rural still- 
ness. Neither is it meant that Nature is voiceless and 
incommunicative — for how many utterances has she, 
which are kind and gentle ! There is an expression in 
the face of flowers ; some distinctive lesson is written 
on the petals of each : and the green grass, as it 
gracefully bends its head to welcome you, repeats 
great moral truths, which were not unworthy the lips 
of our Lord: and the birds have a voice which is 
wiser than man's — for they eat, and render thanks 
in a song ; having neither care, nor barn, nor store- 
house, yet glad and gleesome always under the provi- 
dence of their Father and ours. The day and the 
night, the morning and the evening, the land and the 
ocean, all have a speech for him who will listen. We 



CLIMAX OF REVELATION. 269 

mean something more than this. As the works of God 
seem to bring you near to God, you wonder why it is 
that God himself does not speak to you, directly and 
audibly. He has, in a certain sense, spoken to us in 
his word. He speaks to us in his works — in his prov- 
idence. Why does he not speak to us himself, and 
immediately ? One word from him, how many doubts 
it would solve, how many perplexities remove, how 
many mysteries it would clarify ! You go out into a 
solitary wood, on the top of a hill, or by the side of 
the sea, and think of Moses on Horeb, of Elijah be- 
neath the juniper-tree, of John on sea-girt Patmos ; and, 
ere you are aware, you have almost formed and uttered 
a prayer that God would speak to you, and reveal him- 
self to you, as to man in olden times. But there is no 
response. It is the wind which touches your cheek, 
and nothing more ; that floating form of dazzling white 
in the deep-blue sky is not an angel, but cloud — noth- 
ing but cloud : and you wonder, and are still — wonder, 
and are full of awe, beca,use God is so silent and re- 
served. 

Now, it is this last-named fact — to speak of this first 
in order — which seems to accord perfectly with the 
close and climax of revelation. In every way, God 
appears to put honor on his own written word. This 
is constructed after a visible method. It has a begin- 
ning, a substance, and an end. This ending of revela- 



270 PARADISE. 

tion is most befitting and instructive. As it is in keep- 
ing with all the parts which precede, so is it a proper 
consummation and climacteric. The whole of the last 
chapter of the Scriptures seems to be designed to make 
this very impression — that the one great revelation 
from God h finished. One there is ; this is all-sujfficient, 
and this will not be repeated nor enlarged. No supple- 
ment, no appendix, will ever be needed or added. God 
has spoken, after his own method, once for all, and he 
will speak no more. Revelation is complete, and it is 
ended — the Book is closed and sealed ! Still and silent 
are the heavens now for evermore. If men would know 
the mind of God, they must consult his revealed word. 
Whether they will remain holy or unholy, righteous or 
filthy, depends upon the mode in which they are affect- 
ed toward that one, finished, all-sufi&cient revelation, 
which God has given to the world. Men may ask for 
a sign, and no sign shall be given to them, beyond what 
they have already. They wish that God would speak 
to them, though it were but a word ; and the silence 
of the heavens assures them most impressively that all 
knowledge and all salvation are in that one system of 
redemption which is disclosed in the inspired volume. 

Concerning this method of redemption, in which man's 
highest well-being is involved, we gather from the same 
closing passage of the New Testament that it is ade- 
quate, and more than adequate, for all mankind. Here, 



ANALOGIES. 271 

again, the analogies of Nature come in to illustrate and 
confirm. All the arrangements of Divine Providence 
for human welfare are on a scale of immense munifi- 
cence. That profusion and superabundance which 
characterize the supplies which God has made for our 
natural wants foreshadow the immeasurable quality of 
that redemption which provides for the well-being of 
man's higher nature. The light, the air, the water, the 
rain, the dew, the rivers, and the ocean, are the sym- 
bols which describe the boundless and universal fullness 
of that salvation which is by Jesus Christ. There are 
those, indeed, who theoretically, not practically, judge 
otherwise concerning the extent and range of that pro- 
vision by which men are redeemed and restored. They 
measure its length and breadth as corresponding pre- 
cisely and exactly with the numerical necessities of 
those who avail themselves of its provisions. They 
speak of the waste and useless expenditure which would 
exist on any other method or scale of judgment. Why 
not complain of waste and prodigality in the provisions 
of Nature? Why is so much of Heaven's pure and 
effulgent light poured down on barren rocks and track- 
less deserts ? Why so much of sweet and wholesome 
water which findeth its way to the sea, whereof neither 
man, nor beast, nor bird, ever has tasted ? And why 
such an infinitude of air, beyond the use and capacity 
of all God's creatures ? With what propriety^ besides. 



272 PARADISE. 

can we speak of waste in reference to a moral expedi- 
ent, which was designed to produce a moral effect? 
Better attempt to compress the magnificence of the fir- 
mament into the dimensions of a tent to dwell in, than 
subject the redemption of Jesus Christ, the grandest act 
and achievement in the universe, within our narrow con- 
ceptions of wants, and capacities, and numbers, and ex- 
tension ! God's own language is better than our small- 
minded speculations. 

The closing chapter of Revelation is indeed befitting 
the grandeur of the preceding disclosures. When the 
city of God has been described, as by the diamond 
pen of an angel, all its twelve gates are thrown open 
wide, and from each proceedeth voices of invitation and 
welcome. When faith, and admiration, and joy, are 
carried to the utmost height by a disclosure of that 
celestial life which is the ultimate issue of redemption, 
the word which resounds the loudest, the longest, the 
fullest, is " Cbme." The Spirit utters it, and the Bride 
echoes it. The Lord in heaven and his church on earth 
proclaim the same welcome. It is addressed to every 
man who is athirst. The welcome is to every one who 
heareth — to every one who will take of the waters of 
life. His they are, and his freely. This proclamation 
is not made by man, who justifies its indiscriminate offer 
on the ground of his own ignorance of the individuals 
who may accept it : it is made by God himself, in his 



THE GOSPEL FOB ALL. 273 

own word, with a full knowledge of the reception which 
it will meet from all ; and who shall impute insincerity 
to the Most High in offering to all what was insufficient 
for all — especially as revelation assures us that it is the 
acceptance or rejection of this proffered relief which de- 
scribes our present probation, and will decide our future 
destiny, at the first and last assemblage of the whole 
world ? 

The great and glorious truth, then, which breaks 
upon us is, that the restorative resources of the gospel 
are adequate for us all. They are commensurate with 
the evils they would remove. Indeed, they exceed 
them, and superabound above and beyond them all. A 
great thing, I say, is this to break in upon a mind be- 
wildered and perplexed by human dogmas — the simple 
truth that the redemption which is by Jesus Christ is 
designed for us all, equal for us all, and, if we will, 
available for us all. There is no reserve, and no par- 
tiality, in these offers of eternal salvation. The Para- 
dise of God is open to our entrance. Citizenship in the 
New Jerusalem is offered for our acceptance. 

If, for any reason, we do not share in the honor 
and glory which await our renovated nature, that rea- 
son, be assured, will not be that the act and offer of the 
Redeemer were insufficient for our advantage. This is 
the first truth of the gospel, it is the very substance and 

body of the gospel, that the promises of redemption 

1.2* 



274 PARADISE. 

are without stint, and beyond all measurement ; that 
they are higher than the heavens, larger than the 
earth, broader than the sea, and more free and abun- 
dant than the Sowings of the air. If any spot darkens 
the face of this sun, if any clouds gather over its disc, 
let them all be swept away, and take into your mind 
this gospel truth, that the invitations and welcomings 
of Jesus Christ, in the closing up of revelation, are as 
large, and liberal, and munificent, as our own necessi- 
ties could suggest, or the fullness of God supply. 

God has, then, provided all the materials for our 
highest well-being. In the arrangements of Nature he 
has most bountifully provided for our physical welfare. 
The same afiluence and profusion are for our spiritual na- 
ture ; and all this without our aid, and independent of oui* 
prayer, or choice, or counsel. Where wast thou when 
God laid the foundation of the earth, and spread out the 
heavens like a curtain, and what hadst thou to do with 
the eternal purpose and plan of redemption ? All the 
materials essential to our well-being in both worlds, for 
the body, the mind, and the soul, for time and for eter- 
nity, God has provided, by his own unassisted and un- 
modified power, in that region of his working which is 
far above the reach of our own will and eflbrt. But 
when we come to consider the method by which we are 
to avail ourselves of all this profusion of good, we are 
immediately brought in contact with certain terms and 



TERMS AND CONDITIONS. 275 

conditions in accordance with which our actions must 
bo adjusted. However munificent the provisionary ar- 
rangements of God, our personal well-being is never 
secured save as we bring ourselves into normal rela- 
tions thereto. AVe must ourselves comply with the 
nature of the good to be conferred, or we shall never 
be benefited by it at all. What though the light of the 
sun shine broadly and resplendently over the whole 
earth, if one blind his eyes, shut them, screen them, 
how can he see ? The light is of no advantage to him 
if he will not open his eyes to behold it. The birds are 
fed by Providence, though they sow not, neither do 
they gather into barns ; and the lilies are clad in glory, 
even though they toil not, neither do they spin ; but the 
well-being of man is never attained except he brings 
himself into harmony with all the conditions of the di- 
vine bestowal. Sowing and reaping, toiling and gather- 
ing, are conditions with man, if not with birds and lilies. 
Withhold these, and man never reaches that state of 
physical well-being which was designed for him. He 
does not comply with those terms which are insepara- 
ble from the blessing. The sun may shine and the rain 
may fall, spring and summer through, and all the wealth 
of air and soil be bestowed munificently, but if man will 
not hold the plough, nor sow the seed, nor work at all, 
he will reap small advantage from the willing liberality 
of God. 



276 PARADISE. 

Precisely so is it in regard to God's spiritual munifi- 
cence. If we should say that there were terms and 
conditions connected therewith, we might startle some 
who rejoice most of all in this, that the gospel is a gra- 
tuity, without money and without price. So, indeed, it 
is, with no meritorious conditions by which its benefits 
may be claimed and purchased. Nevertheless, there 
are conditions of our own nature which must be com- 
plied with before we can adjust ourselves to the recep- 
tion of the gospel itself. The eye must be opened, or 
the light can not be received. The hand must be ex- 
tended, or the gift will not be grasped. The mind must 
believe, or redemption never will be secured. Our 
own choice and action must coincide with God's liber- 
ality, or we shall reap no benefit from all the materials 
which his infinite bounty has prepared. 

Verily, there are discriminations among men — dif- 
ferences of their own creating. We read of some who 
will not come to the light, though that light flood the 
sky and earth. Of some who will not come to the feast, 
though it is spread with an amplitude such as no other 
feast ever saw; who are inventive of excuses, even 
though the invitations are urgent, and oft-repeated. 
Indeed, men are not born into the kingdom of God 
involuntarily and passively as they are born into the 
world. It is by no means certain that all men ivill 
be saved because God's goodness is so immense that 



COMING AND TAKING. 277 

all may be saved, for the Redeemer himself, though 
he invites the v^orld, the whole world, to come^ grieves 
over some because they will not come unto him that 
they may have life. Our highest well-being, therefore, 
is not made certain, until we adjust ourselves into har- 
mony with all the conditions which are made essential 
as much by our own constitution as by the nature of 
redemption itself. 

What are the terms ? What is essential, on our 
part, to securing all the benefits of this ample and 
illimitable redemption? Whatever is implied in this 
act of coming. The Spirit and the Bride say come. 
Whoever is athirst is invited to come. Whosoever 
will is welcomed to take the water of life freely. 
These are plainly tropical expressions. Nevertheless, 
whatever is implied in the act of coming, and taking of 
the water of life, is indispensable if we would avail our- 
selves of the affluent provisions. These are the very 
least and lowest conditions which can be conceived of 
in the premises. Beggary itself might be content with 
the terms here proposed, counting that free enough and 
generous enough which might be had for the coming 
and the taking. Anything less than this can not be 
thought of as a condition of possession. 

But what is meant by coming and takings in regard 
to spiritual benefits, seeing that the language obviously 
is figurative ? If in ancient Armenia, hard by where 



278 PARADISE. 

Eden was planted, there was another Paradise, which 
God had prepared for the redeemed — or a palace of 
cedar and ivory — if it were reared where once stood 
the house of Solomon, and from out of these abodes 
should go forth the word of invitation ; if in the fair 
and gorgeous East there was a fountain which, be- 
yond all ancient fable, had power to renovate wasted 
life, and the welcome were to all to take of it 
freely, we should know precisely what was meant; 
we would cross the sea, we would journey over every 
intervening land, we would come even to the shining 
gates, and we would knock and enter in ; we would ac- 
tually go to that living water, and would bend over it, 
and drink thirstily of its fullness. 

But this Paradise of God is not anywhere upon the 
earth. This river of pleasure, and this fullness of joy, 
are not to be found anywhere beneath the sun. If we 
should cross the sea, we should not find them ; should we 
traverse the earth, we could not lay hold of them. They 
are spiritual. They are invisible. They are ultimate. 
They are celestial. Nevertheless, the word proceed- 
eth forth from God himself — come and take freely. 
There is a moving of the mind, a coming or a with- 
drawing as well as of the body. The mind has 
its takings and its losings. There are possessions of 
the soul as well as others which are grasped by the 
hands. What the mind receives it receives in accord- 



BELIEVING. 279 

ance with its own faculties and capacities. It takes it 
by the understanding, by the thoughts, by the judgment, 
by the reason, by the affections, by the confident and 
cordial preference. Combine these acts and qualities 
together and you have a description of religious faith^ 
the believing of the heart which is unto salvation. All 
the honor, and glory, and immortality, promised in the 
gospel, may be had by believing. The disrupture which 
was caused between man and his Maker, was not be- 
cause God had w^ithdrawn his love from his own off- 
spring, but because man had withdrawn his confidence, 
and loyalty, and love, from his Maker. By the restora- 
tion of these, man himself becomes restored. 

We have considered how admirably adapted is the 
gospel itself to win back man's alienated confidence, 
gratitude, and love. And now all that is needed, for 
man to recover what is lost, to secure all which God 
can give, is, to open his mind and heart to what God 
has said and done, believing it, acquiescing in it, re- 
joicing in it, and loving it. Are you startled into in- 
credulity when informed that such vast and priceless 
benefits are dependent on means so simple and dispro- 
portionate ? If need be, we might remind you that the 
same principle of faith, simple as it is, intangible as it 
is, is essential to success in all the pursuits of this pres- 
ent life ; but let us rather hold your thought to this 
one fact, that the gospel itself actually does suspend all 



280 PARADISE. 

its gifts — affluent, munificent as they are — on this one 
thing, and on nothing else. The Paradise of God is 
ours by our coming and taking it. The simplicity of 
the act, the easiness of the terms, might well excite 
astonishment in those who have been looking for some 
marvellous achievement which would destroy their per- 
sonal identity. Some, in their expectation of extraor- 
dinary and supernatural occurrences, such as took place 
when Saul of Tarsus was converted, actually overlook 
and despise the movements of true faith as of little im- 
portance. They have faith, without admitting to them- 
selves how great a thing it is. 

Well do I remember the day when, for the first time, 
I caught a glimpse of the great Alps. My imagination 
had been excited to the highest pitch, in prospect of 
seeing an object with which were associated such 
wealth and grandeur of historic memories. We had 
reached the spot whence, as we were told, the long- 
wished-for view could be had. Unfortunately, a mass 
of clouds hung low and heavily in the east, obscuring 
the object on which we were so much intent. Mean- 
while, the sun was bright in the west, and the sky 
elsewhere was clear and cloudless. Our impatient 
desire was that the sun might not sink beneath the 
horizon before the clouds had passed away from that 
object toward which every eye was bent with strained 
and earnest vision. At length the fixed and changeless 



SIMPLICITY OF FAITH. 281 

character of the clouds themselves attracted remark, 
till by little and little the truth broke upon us that 
what we had mistaken for clouds were the mountains 
themselves — seventy miles distant — just as you have 
seen the white fleecy clouds in the blue summer heav- 
en, assuming castellated and mountainous shapes ; and 
there the great and glorious Alps were lifting up their 
heads of snow and ice into the clear bosom of the sky. 
We saw them ere we recognised them. Even so have 
we known many an honest and thoughtful inquirer after 
truth, straining every faculty of his mind as if in expec- 
tation of some great and exciting act or event — by 
which his conversion should be accomplished beyond a 
doubt — disappointed, perplexed, and confounded, at 
length coming to a perception of the simplicity of Chris- 
tian faith, recognising, at last, the reality of what he had 
long been tempted to overlook, and astonished to find 
that in his own bosom for which he had been gazing, as 
with a telescope, in the uttermost part of the heavens, 
and with suffused eye he exclaims, " Yea, Lord, I be- 
lieve ; help thou mine unbelief." 

Beyond all doubt many a man has overlaid and 
stifled his own faith by not recognising the impor- 
tance of that which in itself is so simple, and easy, 
and common. Even as it was when Jesus Christ 
came into the world — men knew him not, and re- 
ceived him not — so is it with that faith which unites 



282 PARADISE. 

the soul of man unto God, it often springs into life 
so unobserved, so meekly, and modestly, that the very 
one in whose bosom it lives is the last to perceive 
its presence. He can not recognise what is divine 
in a human form. He can not be convinced that 
there is anything important, anything celestial, any- 
thing eternal, in that sentiment of faith which now 
trembles in his bosom. But it is the infancy of life, it 
is the germ of immortality. Give it air. Nourish it. 
Exercise it. Strengthen it. " King Agrippa, believest 
thou the prophets ? I know that thou believest." 

As we have passed in review the great revealed facts 
of man's history, do they not commend themselves to 
the conscience of every reader in the sight of God ? Do 
they not accord with your own experience, conscious- 
ness, and necessity? Have you not an evidence of 
their truth better than all that ever was formed in the 
schools. In all the unfathomed mysteries of your own 
being, in all the forebodings and apprehensions of futu- 
rity, in all your shrinkings from death and the grave, 
do you not feel your need of what is found in the Son 
of God ? ^' I know that thou believest." The power 
of sense may keep these themes from your thoughts, but 
you can not give them your sober and honest reflection 
without admitting that they are true, and true alto- 
gether. 

Come to them, then, even as you are bidden. Bring 



COME. 28S 

your thoughts to their consideration with filial prayer. 
If never before you could believe that Christ ana 
heaven were for you, believe it now. Take into your 
dark and desponding mind this great truth — Christ 
loves you, and desires your salvation. Let that be- 
lief work out its consistent expression in the life. Be- 
lieving that Christ has redeemed you, strive to live m 
accordance with that great act and end. Believing 
that there is a future and endless life, think of it, 
seek it, set your affections upon it. Believing that 
there is a Paradise above, pray for admittance there, 
and live as one expectant of its blessedness. Doing 
this, you shall be saved. This is the gospel which is 
preached unto us. Whoever belie veth in his heart, and 
confessetli with the mouth that Jesus is the Christ, 
shall be saved. Eden we have lost, but Paradise we 
may secure ! We know of no terms and no conditions 
for one which are not fi > .11 Believe ; repent ; pray. 
Confide in God, your Saviour. Obey him. Look to 
him in life and in death. The last words of the Bible 
are a blessing : " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 
be with you all." The last words which came down 
from the city of iJod, ere the Vi^bit thereof was ended, 
are,^' Come — whoever heareth, whoever is athirst, 

WHOEVER WILL, LET HIM COME." 

The next word which we shall hear from the world's 
Redeemer will decide and divulge what treatment we 



284 PARADISE. 

have bestowed on his great salvation. Which shall it 
be. Come, or Depart ? What an epitaph that would 
be for a ruined soul for which Christ died — ''Ye 
would not come unto me^ that you might have life !" 

Come ! 
So may we regard that word with gladness and faith 
on the earth, Hhi^i we may hear it again with exultant 
joy when we stand before the throne of the Son of Man. 



tHJ? t^ny^ 



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